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A deepfake video was created using Haliuo AI based on a still photograph of a Bulgarian politician, Kostadin Kostadinov, at a protest. The video, which falsely depicted him falling while jumping a fence, was circulated on social media and viewed over one million times, misleading the public about the events of the protest.
A purportedly AI-generated video circulated on social media reportedly depicting Bulgarian politician Kostadin Kostadinov falling while jumping a fence during a June 8 protest against adoption of the euro in Bulgaria. Reporting said the clip was generated from a still image taken at the protest and bore a partially obscured Haliuo AI watermark. The video was reposted by multiple accounts and reportedly drew more than one million views.
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.
Also classified as
The deepfake targeted a specific politician, manipulating his likeness to falsely depict him falling in a potentially humiliating manner.
The AI tool was used to generate a political deepfake that was shared on social media, reaching over one million views and misleading public opinion regarding a political figure at a protest.
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 incident was caused by a human user intentionally using a deployed AI video generation tool to create and spread a deceptive deepfake of a politician.
Added categories peak at 2: Minor (Epistemic Harm, Direct)
A deepfake video of Bulgarian politician Kostadin Kostadinov was created using Haliuo AI and reached over one million views on Facebook. While it demonstrates the growing accessibility of synthetic media tools for political disinformation, the incident had minor national security impact, with no disruption to critical infrastructure, government functions, or broader societal stability.
The AI system Haliuo AI was used as a tool to perform a specific, well-defined function of generating a video from a single still image based on direct user input.
Limited Risk: The system is used to generate deepfakes, which are subject to specific transparency and disclosure obligations under the EU AI Act.
The AI system Haliuo AI was used specifically to generate a synthetic deepfake video from a still photograph.
The fact-checking report is highly detailed, identifying the specific tool used (Haliuo AI), the source image (BTA photo), the exact dates of posts, view counts (over 1 million), and specific visual artifacts proving it is a deepfake.
The video was posted by a page known for satire, so some might interpret it as harmless political satire rather than malicious disinformation, though the lack of clear labeling led many to believe it was real.
Technology
Easy Watermark Evasion
The Haliuo AI watermark was easily covered up using '#' symbols.
Realistic Image-to-Video Tech
AI tools can generate highly convincing videos from a single static photo.
Data Inputs
Use of Authentic Source Photo
Using a real news photo as input increased the perceived credibility of video.
Human Factors
Deliberate Misleading Sharing
Users shared the video as real news rather than satire to deceive others.
Lack of Audience Verification
Social media users shared and liked the video without checking its source.
Process and Methods
Inadequate Platform Moderation
Social networks failed to detect and flag the AI-generated video promptly.
No Automatic AI Detection
Platforms lacked automated tools to identify and label synthetic media.
Management
Engagement-Driven Moderation
Social media pages prioritized viral reach over factual accuracy.
Regulatory Environment
Weak Synthetic Media Laws
Lack of legal frameworks to penalize deceptive AI-generated political content.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
