A fresh investigation has documented the use of AI-generated deepfake advertisements on Facebook to impersonate Nigerian public figures and promote questionable investment schemes.
Premium Times found sponsored content in which digitally manipulated videos appeared to show public figures endorsing investment opportunities.
One example involved a video made to resemble Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Meta’s policies prohibit deceptive advertising and impersonation, yet the investigation found that such material remained visible and in some cases attracted substantial engagement.
The problem goes beyond platform moderation.
Deepfake advertising creates potential questions of fraud, privacy, personality rights, consumer protection and evidential authentication.
Where artificial media becomes sufficiently realistic, a victim may not know whether a public figure actually endorsed a financial product until money has already been lost.
For regulators, the challenge is determining who bears responsibility among advertisers, platform operators and the individuals who create synthetic media.
For courts, the growth of deepfakes will also complicate assumptions about the authenticity of video and audio evidence.
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