Deepfakes aim to shake the election

The non-partisan and anti-corruption organisation RepresentUs is behind these eerily real social media posts.

The short spots feature deepfaked versions of Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin in a bid to illustrate that the American people need to be on their guard ahead of the forthcoming US Presidential election. 

The ads, which were banned by Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, aired digitally and were created by Mischief @ No Fixed Address and directed by Zach Math. They are part of RepresentUs's campaign to illustrate their belief that unless the American people take immediate action to fix what they believe to be "political corruption, voter suppression gerrymandering, and a broken election system" then "democracy will collapse".

"Deepfakes are a threat and so is Russia,” said Joshua Graham Lynn, Co-Founder and President at RepresentUs. “But it is at our own peril that we ignore the threats right here at home. It’s time to wake up and fight for our sacred democracy.”