As part of the promotion for his project “Spectre”, British artist Bill Posters posted some video shows to Instagram. The video says that “We’re increasing transparency on ads,” to make it look like it’s part of a news segment.
The video, created by artists Bill Posters and Daniel Howe in partnership with advertising company Canny, shows Mark Zuckerberg sitting at a desk in front of a camera, apparently giving a disturbing speech about Facebook’s power. “Imagine this for a second: One man, with total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures,” Zuckerberg’s likeness says, in the video. “I owe it all to Spectre. Spectre showed me that whoever controls the data, controls the future.” The title of the Instagram post says it’s created using CannyAI’s video dialogue replacement (VDR) technology.
Facebook did not remove the video but the company chose to de-prioritize it so that it seemed less frequently in users’ feeds and positioned the video along with third-party fact-checker information.
Out of the original seven-minute video, a 21-second portion was randomly clipped. A trained algorithm was then used on the clip and the voice, as well as facial movements of Zuckerberg, were matched in order to rebuild it. The video is effortlessly recognizable as a fake. The original video is from a September 2017 address Zuckerberg gave about Russian election interference on Facebook.
Facebook recently was targeted for refusing to block the sharing of a video of the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi which was doctored to make her appear drunk or impaired. Pelosi requested Facebook to block the video, however, the social media giant did not delete the video, and instead, chose to de-prioritise it, so that it appeared less frequently in users’ feeds. The company also placed the video along with third-party fact-checker information.
The purpose of “Spectre” is to discuss the power of digital influencers and information online, as well as what can or cannot be believed. This deepfake video of Zuckerberg is one of many made by Canny in partnership with Posters, including ones of Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump, as part of Spectre.
The fake video of Mr Zuckerberg would receive the same treatment as the fake video of Ms Pelosi and other misinformation, said the Instagram spokesperson.
In a recent development, Instagram even announced that it will no longer only have vertical videos. The app, which was always mobile first, will now also support videos in landscape mode.
The company announced the change in a blog post saying, “We realize this is an evolution from where IGTV started — we believe it’s the right change for viewers and creators. In many ways, opening IGTV to more than just vertical videos are similar to when we opened Instagram to more than just square photos in 2015. It enabled creativity to flourish and engagement to rise — and we believe the same will happen again with IGTV.” So, the content creators will be encouraged to upload the same video that they create for YouTube on IGTV too.
For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App
