AI created bogus journalists for online propaganda campaign - Geeko

Conservative media like Newsmax and the Washington Examiner have published articles written by "experts". After an investigation, the DailyBeast reveals that these authors are actually fictional characters.

AI to create the faces of bogus journalists

A total of 19 fake characters were revealed. They were "journalists", "analysts" or even "political consultants". Their names were linked to fictitious Twitter or LinkedIn profiles. To get even closer to a real character, photos were associated with the authors. But to prevent the deception from being revealed quickly through reverse image searches, these photos were generated by an AI. They still have some imperfections, such as a missing incisor for example.

Each image is generated in a unique way, and therefore cannot be traced back to the original image, emphasizes TheVerge. In total, the 19 fake characters "wrote" for nearly 46 different publications.

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The articles were turned in favor of certain countries of the Gulf. "The articles praised the United Arab Emirates and argued for a stricter approach by Qatar, Turkey, Iran and their proxy groups in Iraq and Lebanon," said Adam Rawnsley, the journalist who carried out the investigation. The "authors" also had other elements in common. They were mostly contributors to two particular sites: The Arab Eye and Persia Now. Their Twitter accounts were also created between March and April 2020.

Since the DailyBeast investigation, some of the deceived media have deleted articles related to these fictitious authors. Twitter has also suspended accounts associated with these characters. "This vast influence operation highlights the ease with which malicious actors can exploit the identity of real people, deceive the international media and legitimize propaganda of unknown origin," Marc Owen Jones told TheDailyBeast Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

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