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In the days leading up to the 2023 Slovak parliamentary elections, AI-generated deepfake audio recordings were disseminated on social media platforms. These recordings falsely depicted political figures and journalists discussing election rigging and other controversial topics. The incidents, which occurred during a legally mandated election moratorium, were identified as attempts to manipulate voter sentiment and discredit political opponents and independent media. Experts and fact-checkers confirmed the audio was synthesized using AI, highlighting the challenges of moderating such content in real-time during sensitive political events.
Days before Slovakia's election, deepfake audio recordings surfaced, allegedly featuring conversations between a journalist and a leading liberal politician discussing vote-rigging and other controversial topics. The recordings were spread on social media platforms and may have influenced the election outcome, which saw the pro-Russian populist party winning.
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 AI system was used to generate highly realistic but entirely fabricated audio recordings of political figures and journalists to mislead voters.
The deepfake involving Todova was used to target, smear, and discredit a specific prominent journalist and media outlet.
The incident involved coordinated, at-scale dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes targeting the Slovakian electorate to manipulate public opinion and influence the outcome of a national election.
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 driven by human actors intentionally using deployed AI voice-cloning tools to generate and spread deceptive political disinformation during an election campaign.
Added categories peak at 3: Substantial (Epistemic Harm, Inferred)
AI-generated deepfake audio was deployed in Slovakia to influence a national parliamentary election during a critical 48-hour pre-election moratorium. This incident represents a substantial threat to sovereignty and information security, establishing a major precedent for AI-driven election interference in democratic nations.
The AI systems functioned as tools, performing the specific, well-defined function of voice cloning based on direct human inputs (voice samples and text scripts) without autonomous planning or context retention.
Limited Risk: The incident involves AI-generated content, specifically deepfakes, which under the EU AI Act are subject to transparency obligations to ensure users are informed of their synthetic nature.
The AI systems were primarily used to generate highly realistic synthetic voices (voice cloning) of specific politicians and journalists based on text scripts.
The reports provide consistent, detailed accounts of the deepfake incidents, the specific individuals targeted, the platforms used for dissemination, and the fact-checking efforts that confirmed the use of AI voice cloning. The role of the AI systems is explicitly stated, and multiple independent sources (AFP, Reset, Demagog) corroborate the events.
None
Technology
Easy Access to Voice Cloning Tools
Apps like HeyGen made creating realistic voice clones cheap and accessible.
Inadequate AI Detection Tools
Fact-checkers lacked reliable, accessible tools to quickly identify deepfakes.
Data Inputs
Abundant Public Audio Samples
Public appearances of politicians provided ample data to train voice clones.
Human Factors
Voter Susceptibility to Hoaxes
Many voters believed the fakes because they aligned with existing biases.
Politicians Spreading Disinformation
Slovak politicians actively shared deepfakes to discredit opponents.
Process and Methods
Exploitation of Election Moratorium
Releasing fakes during the 48-hour moratorium prevented timely debunking.
Policy Loophole for Audio Deepfakes
Meta's manipulated-media policy initially only covered fake videos, not audio.
Inconsistent Platform Moderation
Social media platforms responded slowly and inconsistently to reported fakes.
Management
Inadequate Platform Safety Spending
Platforms failed to invest sufficiently in content moderation for small nations.
Delayed Government Response
Slovak authorities failed to proactively prepare for AI-driven hybrid threats.
Regulatory Environment
Lack of Effective AI Regulation
No robust laws existed to prevent or penalize election-disrupting deepfakes.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
