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The Presidency of Moldova reported the release of a deepfake video on Telegram featuring the President, Maia Sandu, which used AI to falsify her image and voice. The video, linked to disinformation efforts, aimed to create social division and undermine democratic institutions. This incident follows previous instances of deepfakes used to impersonate the President during local elections and other political contexts.
A deepfake video reportedly depicting President Maia Sandu's image and voice was released in Moldova, allegedly portraying her in a negative light to sow division and undermine democratic institutions. This video reportedly appeared on Telegram and was linked to Russian disinformation efforts.
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 false and misleading video and audio content depicting the President making fabricated statements.
The report highlights that Moldova has not yet taken legislative steps or developed a national strategy to monitor or regulate the use of generative AI.
The incident involves the coordinated use of AI-generated deepfakes by political actors to conduct a large-scale disinformation campaign aimed at manipulating democratic processes and public opinion in Moldova.
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 deepfake videos were intentionally created and deployed by human malicious actors using post-deployment generative AI tools to manipulate public opinion.
Added categories peak at 4: Severe (Epistemic Harm, Inferred)
AI-generated deepfakes of Moldovan President Maia Sandu were deployed in a coordinated disinformation campaign linked to Russian-backed actors. The incident represents a substantial threat to information security, sovereignty, and societal stability by targeting democratic processes and public trust.
The AI system acted as a tool to generate synthetic video and audio content based on direct human inputs. It did not exhibit autonomous planning, decision-making, or goal-directed behavior independent of its human operators.
Limited Risk: The report describes the creation of AI-generated deepfakes, which fall under the category of AI systems posing a moderate risk that require specific transparency obligations under the EU AI Act.
The AI system was primarily used to generate synthetic video and voice content to impersonate President Maia Sandu.
The report provides clear, factual details about the deepfake videos, their political context, the platforms used for dissemination, and the targeted individual. The role of AI in generating the fakes is explicitly stated, allowing for highly confident classifications.
None. The incident is clearly a politically motivated deepfake campaign.
Technology
AI Deepfake Synthesis
AI tools used to falsify image and sound of the president.
Accessibility of AI Tools
Indiscriminate availability of advanced AI generation tools.
Data Inputs
Presidential Media Scraped
Real video and audio of the president used to train deepfakes.
Human Factors
Malicious Actors
Fugitive oligarch and foreign actors spreading disinformation.
Audience Susceptibility
Russian-speaking audience targeted to create societal division.
Process and Methods
Inadequate Platform Moderation
Social media platforms failing to block paid fake posts.
Lack of Rapid Verification
No rapid response mechanism to tag deepfakes on platforms.
Management
Slow Platform Response
Social media companies failing to act on government requests.
Regulatory Environment
No National AI Strategy
Moldova lacks legislation or strategy on monitoring AI use.
Weak Platform Regulation
Lack of enforcement on global IT platforms to curb disinformation.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
