Donald Trump tweeted out a new campaign video this morning mocking Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
The ad uses “deepfake,” a synthetic media which replaces one person’s image with another, to superimpose former President Barack Obama’s face over Allstate pitchman, Dennis Haysbert.
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The original commercial is a relatively new spot from Allstate featuring the actor turned spokesperson.
In the ad, Haysbert and friends are watching a basketball game that is interrupted by a commercial. “Not another commercial,” one of the friends says with a sigh. The ad within an ad features Haysbert pitching Allstate.
The friends try switching to another channel, but there’s a commercial there too featuring Haysbert.
Exasperated, his friends all look at him and he replies, “What?” with a smirk and shrug.
In the Trump campaign video, the commercial that plays features Biden giving a speech that drifts off-topic. The clip is from a 2017 speech in Delaware where he stated: “So I learned about roaches. I learned about kids jumping on my lap. And I’ve loved kids jumping on my lap.”
The Trump ad uses deepfake to put Obama’s head on Haysbert’s body.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2020
Deepfake technology has become popular recently on social media often harmlessly replacing one celebrity’s face with another. However, there is concern about the technology which has also been used in revenge porn and for financial fraud.
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In 2018, the Malicious Deep Fake Prohibition Act was introduced in the Senate and in 2019, the DEEPFAKES (Defending Each and Every Person from False Appearances by Keeping Exploitation Subject) Accountability Act was introduced in the House of Representatives.
Several states have legal protections against the use of deepfake technology. In California, Assembly Bill 730 prohibits the distribution of malicious deepfake audio or visual media targeting a candidate running for public office within 60 days of their election.
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