While the digital age has made information readily accessible, it has also ushered in an insidious adversary that threatens the integrity of democratic elections in Africa and other parts of the world – deepfakes.
These highly realistic fabricated videos or images have the power to deceive voters, manipulate public opinion and tarnish the reputation of political parties and politicians.
As South Africa gears up for elections on May 29, experts at cybersecurity training organisation KnowBe4 AFRICA are sounding the alarm.
KnowBe4 AFRICA senior vice president of content strategy Anna Collard has cautioned South Africans to be on the lookout for deepfakes following incidents over the past six months in which two prominent public officials were targeted by cybercriminals.
In an incident in October 2023, cybercriminals exploited deepfake technology to impersonate African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat during online conversations with European diplomats.
The fabricated videos were so convincing that they successfully deceived unsuspecting participants.
Similarly, in December, Facebook had to take down over 100 deepfake paid advertisements featuring British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after nearly half a million people had already viewed them.
“Deepfakes pose major risks in the run-up to elections, both in the UK (United Kingdom) and South Africa,” Collard said on Monday.
Collard said these incidents – and the increasing sophistication of the deepfake technology – underscored the urgency of addressing the menace.
Over the past year, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of deepfakes, rendering them more convincing and difficult to identify, she said.
Collard emphasizes that voters in South Africa must exercise vigilance when encountering images purportedly associated with politicians and need to verify the authenticity of such visuals.
“Voters need to be aware of this risk and be proactive about mitigating their impact,” she added.
To counter the deepfake risk, the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa has partnered with Media Monitoring Africa to launch an initiative called Padre.
This ground-breaking project empowers voters to fact-check information related to South African political parties and their recent statements.
Padre supports access to information by providing a repository for official political party adverts that can be accessed by the public.
This allows prospective voters to verify adverts or other images about a political party or politician that they find on social media.
JN/APA