Associated Incidents
Two far-right Republika’s social media posts in which AI is used to mimic the voice of Progressives leader Michal Šimečka and spread falsehoods, like plans to raise the cost of beer, were eventually removed from YouTube but remained available on Facebook.
In the videos shared on social media, the supposed voices of Šimečka and President Zuzana Čaputová, a former PS board member, renounced their progressive values and support Republika, while the text states that any similarities in the voices used are purely coincidental.
It is widely believed and reported in Slovakia that the videos were made with the use of AI technology which has the capability of mimicking the voice of individuals.
Progressive Slovakia told Euractiv.sk the videos contain the AI-generated voice of their leader, Michal Šimečka.
But neither Facebook nor YouTube – under new scrutiny by the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires them to protect against election manipulation – responded to reports of the posts within 48 hours from when they were reported via their respective reporting mechanisms.
“We’ve seen a lot of bizarreness in this campaign. But the best bits of the anti-campaign our opponents have saved for last,” Šimečka said, pointing to another AI-generated hoax spread on WhatsApp, in which his voice promised to raise beer prices. The leader of progressives added that they have no plans to engage with alcohol pricing.
Attacks are mounting on the Progressive Slovakia party as recent polls show it is gaining ground on the previous frontrunner, Smer, which has campaigned on ending military support for Ukraine, which could influence EU foreign policy. The hoaxes include a false claim that a candidate died from COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked by Euractiv.sk at a media roundtable on Monday, how they were generally dealing with AI misinformation in the context of the election campaign, YouTube says it is confident that it complies with EU policy and uses tools to detect AI deep fakes used to break its rules against spreading misinformation.
The videos, which no longer appear on YouTube but are still on Facebook at the time of this article’s publication, are among the most popular on the far-right party’s channel.
As well as using AI-generated voices of politicians, the videos also attack the LGBTI+ community, which has become a heated election issue. Smer and its potential coalition partner, Republika, spread transphobic hate speech during the progressive campaign on gender self-identification.
“We’ve heavily invested in our policies and systems to ensure we’re successfully supporting elections with a multi-layered approach, including the upcoming election in Slovakia. Our Community Guidelines apply to elections content, and we remove content that misleads voters on how to vote or encourages interference in the democratic process. Additionally, we connect people to authoritative election news and information through recommendations and information panels. Our teams continue to closely monitor real-time developments around the Slovak election and are ready to take further action,” a YouTube spokesperson said.