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In January 2023, AI-generated videos featuring avatars created via the Synthesia platform began circulating on social media and WhatsApp, expressing support for Burkina Faso's military junta. While the creator remains unidentified, Synthesia confirmed the videos violated their terms of service and subsequently banned the user. The incident highlights the challenges of content moderation for AI platforms when dealing with political disinformation that requires deep contextual understanding.
In January 2023, purportedly AI-generated videos reportedly began circulating on WhatsApp and social media showing avatars of apparent American pan-Africanists expressing support for Burkina Faso's military junta. The videos were reportedly created using the Synthesia platform. Synthesia later confirmed the videos violated its terms of service and banned the user. The source of the videos remains unidentified.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
The incident involved a user leveraging Synthesia's AI video generation to create and spread pro-military junta propaganda, aiming to influence public opinion and political processes in Burkina Faso.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
The risk was caused by a human user who intentionally generated and distributed pro-military propaganda videos using Synthesia's post-deployment platform.
Added categories peak at 3: Substantial (Epistemic Harm, Inferred)
AI-generated avatars were used to create clumsy political propaganda videos supporting Burkina Faso's military junta. While representing an evolution in disinformation tactics, the low quality of the videos and the swift ban of the creator limited the national security impact to a minor level.
The AI system, Synthesia, operated as a Tool. It took direct text inputs (the script) and generated a deterministic video output of an avatar speaking the text, without exhibiting independent planning or context retention.
Risk Level 3: Limited Risk. The incident involves 'AI-generated content such as deepfakes' created via Synthesia, which falls under the transparency obligations of Limited Risk systems.
The primary function of Synthesia is to generate realistic videos of AI avatars speaking from text inputs, which constitutes deepfake video generation. These videos were then distributed as social media content.
The report clearly identifies the AI platform used (Synthesia), the nature of the content generated (pro-military junta propaganda), and the platforms where it circulated. Synthesia's CEO confirmed the misuse and the subsequent ban of the user, leaving little ambiguity about the technical tool or the violation of terms of service.
None
Technology
AI Avatar Generation Abuse
Synthesia's platform was used to generate lifelike political propaganda.
Inadequate Algorithmic Detection
Automated systems failed to flag the script due to lack of explicit terms.
Data Inputs
Implicit Propaganda Scripts
Input text avoided explicit banned words to bypass keyword filters.
Human Factors
Lack of Public AI Awareness
Users shared the video on social media without realizing it was AI-generated.
Malicious User Intent
An anonymous actor intentionally used AI to spread pro-military propaganda.
Process and Methods
Weak Contextual Moderation
Moderation lacked contextual understanding of regional political situations.
Reactive Moderation Process
Platform only banned the user after the video was flagged externally.
Management
Inadequate Risk Assessment
Management failed to prevent geopolitical exploitation of their avatar tool.
Regulatory Environment
Lack of Deepfake Regulation
Absence of strict legal frameworks governing AI-generated political content.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
