Pranksters say that ‘DeepFake’ fooling European politicians looked just the same

Last week, very News The shops Informed that a string of European politicians had been betrayed by a sophisticated Russian conspiracy. MPs from Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia had arranged a video call with a hoof, claiming to be Leonid Volkov, the chief of staff to imprison anti-Russian Putin politician Alexei Navalny. As politicians call it, they succumbed to a digital fake: a doppelganger created it using “deepfake” technology to dodge leaders – the latest example of Russia’s misinformation campaigns in the West.

But the Russian men who circled the call say the claim of “deepfeck” is false. Speaking to The Reporter Door, the hoaxers say that their imitation was created using the Volkov effect using more sophisticated make-up and artistically ambiguous camera angles.

“Leonid Volkov, meet Russian opposition leader,” says in a recent video call with Vladimir Kuznetsov The Reporter DoorIntroducing Alexey Stolarov, his co-worker and partner-in-crime, a man who actually undergoes Leonid Volkov.

The pair say they made their way into various meetings with European politicians and even in a live interview on Latvian TV. He used the actual photo of Volkov as his digital avatar by cold-calling and emailing his targets with fake addresses. As evidence, the pair shared something with this correspondence The Reporter Door. He has also uploaded a meeting between “Volkov” and Ukrainian politicians Youtube And says more videos are coming.

“I didn’t have to prepare much to look like the real Volkov,” Stolyarov says. “I just had some brushes and some colors and that was enough.”

Image: Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolarov

Kuznetsov and Stolarov are known as Vaughan and Lexus: a pair of self-described “prognosters” who Have a history To fool Western politicians and celebrities. Over the years, the pair have made their way into phone calls with their choice. Justin trudo, Elton John, Bernie sanders, Lindsey graham, And Boris Johnson, aiming to catch these figures off-guard each time and sneaking potentially embarrassing statements out of them.

Although pair Denied to Any official connections to the Kremlin, no doubt their work is Is useful and supported by Russian Government. In the past, they used to watch their own shows on Russian state TV and their antics approved by state news. They clearly know which side their bread is on. As Stolirov told Guardian A few years ago: “We will not prank Putin. We do not want to harm our country. We do not want unrest here; We do not want to do anything that helps Russia’s enemies. “

However, creating turbulence elsewhere is par for the course. “Our job is to prank high officials and celebrities and make it very funny and get published on social media,” says Stolirov.

Image: Youtube

The pair say they chose Volkov’s model for several reasons. First, because of Navalny’s newness. After most opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin in years, Navalny has been Prisoner. He recently ended a 24-day hunger strike and continued to criticize the Russian government despite the expectation that he would have a nationwide political movement Announced soon. Secondly, due to Stolirov’s similarity. And thirdly, because the real Volkov has not had many meetings with Western politicians, meaning that he was not familiar with how he looked and sounded. A reluctant fourth motivation is to ridicule anti-Putin forces, in line with the politics of both.

Kuznetsov and Stolarov have done many pranks over the years (you can) Browse their YouTube channel For selection) although not all have attracted media attention. What this particular campaign did is its association with Deepcox – the AI-generated or manipulated media that many fear will be used as a tool of political misinformation.

Over the years, experts have warned of a so-called “infopocalypse”, where the quality and availability of DeepFac makes it impossible for the public to distinguish truth and imagination. So far, this grim prophecy has not come to pass. The most damaging effect of DeepFake has been in the generation of non-pornographic pornography. And although politics has killed dogs in recent years on the basis of arrogance and misinformation, such incidents almost always revolve around videos and images edited old-fashioned. Nevertheless, the Deepfake audience still falls prey to politics – as the recent incident shows.

It is unclear whether the fake Volkov call on AI technology was previously blamed, but it appears Volkov himself may be the source. Latvian politician Richards Cole Posted on facebook On April 22 that he was tricked into making a call in March with an unknown clown, and shared two photos showing genuine and fake Volkovs. Volkov then Images republished On the same day, calling Vovan and Lexus a prank, but also suggesting that AI was used. “Looks like my real face – but how did they manage it on the zoom call?” He wrote, according to a Facebook translation. “Welcome to the deep-rogue era.”

Image: Leonid Volkov via Facebook

It is from here that the line spread. The next day, the Colts, who are the chairman of Latvia’s foreign affairs committee, posted Statement on twitter Co-signed by their counterparts Lithuania and Estonia. The trio warned about the threat posed by “deepfake technologies” and said the prank was “a targeted attack on critics of the Kremlin.”

The statement said, “During the past few months, the use of Estonian and Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated media took disinfectant action against Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and United Kingdom politicians, non-governmental organizations and media representatives Gone.” . “We encourage everyone to still be open to communication, as representatives of true democracies should always be!”

Kuznetsov and Stolarov say they are surprised that the prank has been described as a darker thing, not least because the image they used in their accounts, and which Volkov himself described as fake I have recognized, Taken from an actual video. “It was his real picture, but he denied that he is,” Stolarov says, before Kuznetsov says that Volkov probably didn’t like the picture because he was “too fat.”

Whether politicians blamed the move on Deepfake out of genuine confusion or the reasons for more self-service is not clear. Surely it is less embarrassing to be fooled by a sophisticated AI counterfeit than a couple of pranksters in a weak email way. But this incident makes it clear that misinformation in the form of technology is having more impact than fear of DeepFac. For those instigated by Kuznetsov and Stolirov – aka Vovan and Lexus – blaming the new technology may simply be a matter of saving face.