Deepfake Zelensky Was Quickly Defeated. The Next One May Not Be

On March 2, the Ukraine government's Center for Strategic Communication warned that its enemies might be preparing a "deepfake" video that appeared to show president Volodymyr Zelensky announcing his surrender to Russia's invasion. On Wednesday, that warning appeared prescient. A fake video emerged on Facebook and YouTube in which a strangely motionless version of Zelensky asked Ukrainian troops to lay down their weapons in a voice different from his usual tone. The clip was also posted to Telegram and Russian social network VKontakte, according to the US think tank the Atlantic Council. TV Channel Ukraine 24 said hackers defaced its website with a still from the video and inserted a summary of the fake news into a broadcast's scrolling chyron.