In a recent statement, Minister of Digitalization Marie Bjerre (V) criticized the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti) for sharing an AI-generated video of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) on social media. The video, which is a deepfake, shows a manipulated version of the Prime Minister allegedly speaking about abolishing several Danish holidays, including Pentecost, Easter, and Christmas. Marie Bjerre, who has artificial intelligence as part of her area of responsibility, believes that the use of deepfake technology in political contexts is “far beyond the line” and represents an “unfortunate slippery slope” for democracy. She points out that such videos can create serious misinformation since they appear convincing and can be difficult to distinguish from reality.
“It is also a problem for our democracy and society. With deepfake, you can create material that looks incredibly credible, and that means that you can really create some misinformation,” says Marie Bjerre. She adds that consent should be obtained from the individuals who are portrayed in deepfake videos and that would be the most proper way to use the technology. Furthermore, she points out that in certain cases, it may be illegal to create and share deepfake videos, as it can be considered identity theft.
The leader of the Danish People’s Party, Morten Messerschmidt, has defended the video as a satirical piece and dismissed the criticism by arguing that the video demonstrates how new technologies can be used in an entertaining manner. However, he has admitted that he did not obtain consent from the Prime Minister before the video’s publication. Despite the fact that the Danish People’s Party has labeled the video as “AI-generated” in the top right corner, Marie Bjerre does not believe that it is sufficient, and she emphasizes the importance of being able to distinguish between what is true and false in political satire.