FBI raises alarm about fake election videos

Tensions tend to be high in an election year, and 2024 is expected to be even more tense than most. This year there's a new variable in the mix: the fact that there's now technology to create realistic photos and videos of events that never happened. After Hurricane Helene, NPR reported that fake videos appeared online.

There was once a time when fake videos were relatively easy to spot. Now many more people have access to tools that help them create realistic-looking images and clips. Some people do it to advance a particular political ideology; others do it for the sake of chaos, period. And with the election just days away, the FBI has taken steps to crack down on disinformation — including posting warnings on social media.

“The FBI is aware of two videos that falsely claim to be from the FBI and relate to election security. One says the FBI has arrested three affiliated groups for election fraud, and the second refers to the Second Gentleman,” the FBI wrote on Twitter/X. “These videos are not authentic, do not come from the FBI, and the content they depict is false.”

As Engadget's Cheyenne Macdonald wrote, this isn't the only recent action the government has taken to respond to disinformation. Engadget reports that the FBI has been working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to identify additional fake election videos with ties to foreign actors.

The FBI's latest statement on fake videos also mentions that the agency is working with “state and local law enforcement partners” to address what they call “election threats.” It's a worrying moment when artificially created videos have the potential to go viral and mislead voters. As always, if you spot something particularly outrageous online, it may be worth taking the time to check its origins.