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'Lies are Flooding Feeds': AI Fakery Raises US Voter Manipulation Fears

This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP Photo)
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'Lies are Flooding Feeds': AI Fakery Raises US Voter Manipulation Fears

This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP Photo)
This combination of photos taken at campaign rallies in Atlanta shows Vice President Kamala Harris on July 30, 2024, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3. (AP Photo)

A "deepfake" video parodying Kamala Harris, a manipulated expletive-laden clip of Joe Biden, and a doctored image of Donald Trump being arrested -- a tide of AI-fueled political disinformation has prompted alarm over its potential to manipulate voters as the US presidential race heats up.
In what is widely billed as America's first AI election in November, researchers warn that tech-enabled fakery could be used to steer voters toward or away from candidates -- or even to avoid the polls altogether -- stoking tensions in an already hyperpolarized environment, AFP said.
A recent wave of disinformation has renewed calls for tech giants -- many of which have retreated from moderating social media content -- to strengthen guardrails around generative artificial intelligence ahead of the vote.
Last week, Elon Musk faced intense criticism for sharing a deepfake video featuring Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, with his 192 million followers on X, formerly Twitter.
In it, a voiceover mimicking Harris calls President Joe Biden senile; the voice then declares that she does not "know the first thing about running the country."
The video carried no indication that it was parody -- save for a laughing emoji. Only later did Musk clarify that the video was meant as satire.
Researchers expressed concern that viewers could have falsely concluded that Harris was deriding herself and sullying Biden.
AFP's fact-checkers have debunked other AI fakery that raised alarm.
Last month, a manipulated video ricocheting across X appeared to show Biden cursing his critics after he announced he would not seek reelection and endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination.
A reverse image search showed the footage came from one of Biden’s speeches, carried live by the broadcaster PBS, in which he denounced political violence after the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump.
PBS said the doctored video was a deepfake that used its logo to deceive viewers.
Weeks earlier, an image shared across platforms appeared to show police forcibly arresting Trump after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
But the photo was a deepfake, digital forensics experts told AFP.
'Partisan tension'
"These recent examples are highly representative of how deepfakes will be used in politics going forward," Lucas Hansen, co-founder of the nonprofit CivAI, told AFP.
"While AI-powered disinformation is certainly a concern, the most likely applications will be manufactured images and videos intended to provoke anger and worsen partisan tension."
Hansen demonstrated to AFP the ability of one AI chatbot to manipulate voter turnout by mass-producing false tweets.
The tool was fed a simple prompt -- "Polling locations charge for parking" –- with the message customized for a specific location: Allen, Texas.
Within seconds, a tweet was churned out misinforming viewers that Allen authorities had "quietly introduced a $25 parking fee at most polling places."
In a previous attempt at possible voter suppression, an AI-enabled robocall impersonating Biden urged New Hampshire residents in January not to cast ballots in the state's primary.
Tests on another leading AI tool, Midjourney, allowed the creation of images seeming to show Biden being arrested and of Trump appearing next to a body double, the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said in June.
Midjourney had previously blocked all prompts related to Trump and Biden, effectively barring users from creating fake images, tech activists reported.
But CCDH said users could easily circumvent the policy -- in some cases by adding a single backslash to a prompt previously blocked by Midjourney.
'Tipping point'
Observers warn that such fakery on a mass scale risks igniting public anger at the electoral process.
More than 50 percent of Americans expect AI-enabled falsehoods to impact who wins the 2024 election, according to a poll published last year by the media group Axios and business intelligence firm Morning Consult.
About one-third of Americans said they will be less trusting of the results because of AI, according to the poll.
Several tech giants have said they are working on systems for labeling AI-generated content.
In a letter to tech CEOs in April, more than 200 advocacy groups demanded urgent efforts to bolster the fight against AI falsehoods -- including prohibiting the use of deepfakes in political ads, and using algorithms to promote factual election content.
The nonprofit Free Press, one of the groups that signed the letter, said they "heard little substance" in the commitments platforms would be making this election cycle.
"What we have now is a toxic online environment where lies are flooding our feeds and confusing voters," Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the watchdog, told AFP.
"This is a tipping point in our election," she added. "Platform executives should be racing to strengthen and enforce their policies against deepfakes and other problems."

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Tram Derails in Central Milan, Leaving One Dead, 40 Injured

Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
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Tram Derails in Central Milan, Leaving One Dead, 40 Injured

Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
Emergency services work at the scene of a derailment on Line 9 in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)

One person was killed and around 40 injured, including one in a critical condition, when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday, a spokesperson for local ‌firefighters said.

The ‌tram, one of ‌the ⁠newest models in ⁠operation in Milan, came off the tracks in Vittorio Veneto street, one of the city's key downtown corridors, crashing into the ⁠window of a shop, the ‌spokesperson ‌Vittorio Di Giacomo told Reuters.

Local ‌emergency services said 13 ‌ambulances were on the scene.

Civil protection teams set up a tent to assist the injured, according ‌to a Reuters eyewitness.

The Milan transport company, ATM, ⁠said ⁠in a statement it was "deeply shocked" by the accident, expressed its sympathy to all those affected and said it was working with judicial authorities to try to understand what caused it.

World

Bill Clinton to Lawmakers Investigating Epstein: ‘I Saw Nothing’

Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Bill Clinton to Lawmakers Investigating Epstein: ‘I Saw Nothing’

Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the media gather outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center as the House Oversight Committee conducts a deposition with former US President Bill Clinton as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Chappaqua, New York, on February 27, 2026. (AFP)

Bill Clinton told lawmakers on Friday that he "saw nothing that gave me pause" when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender.

In a prepared statement, Clinton told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee that he would not have flown on the late financier's plane if he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did.

"We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long," Clinton said.

Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several ‌times in the ‌early 2000s after he left office and before Epstein's 2008 conviction of ‌soliciting ⁠prostitution from a ⁠minor. A tranche of millions of documents released by the Justice Department includes photos of Clinton with women whose faces are redacted.

"I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong," Clinton said.

His testimony follows that of his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told the panel on Thursday that she did not remember ever meeting Epstein and had nothing to share about his sex crimes.

She said she was also asked about UFOs and a 2016-era conspiracy theory during the ⁠seven-hour session.

The panel's Republican chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, said he ‌would ask the former president about the photos released ‌by the Justice Department. The committee is also expected to quiz Clinton about Epstein's involvement with the couple's ‌charitable foundation.

Comer said video of Hillary Clinton's testimony could be released as soon as ‌Friday. Comer repeatedly has said the Clintons are not accused of wrongdoing.

They agreed to testify near their main residence of Chappaqua, New York, after the House threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate. Some Democrats supported the move.

Epstein died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking crimes. His death was ruled a suicide.

World

Macron to Set Out How France’s Nuclear Arms Could Protect Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
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Macron to Set Out How France’s Nuclear Arms Could Protect Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint news conference with Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP)

French President Emmanual Macron is Monday to reveal his vision for how France's nuclear arsenal could bolster defense in Europe, with the continent scrambling to re-arm against an aggressive Russia and as Washington turns away.

The speech by Macron, at France's Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, will be closely watched across Europe, which for decades has relied on the United States' nuclear deterrent but is now increasingly debating whether to bolster its own arsenals.

He is expected to update France's nuclear doctrine, with a member of his team telling AFP to expect "fairly significant shifts and developments" but declining to give any further details.

Macron has previously proposed to consider how France -- the European Union's only nuclear power -- could contribute to protecting Europe.

He said this month he is considering a doctrine that could include "special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries".

Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.

France maintains the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which exited the EU in 2106, is the only other European nuclear power.

By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world's two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.

Reassurances from US officials that Washington's deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.

"It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense," Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.

- '27 buttons' -

This month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he was holding "confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence".

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the UK's nuclear deterrent already protects fellow NATO members, but stressed that he was "enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France".

But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU's 27 states is another story.

Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.

"I can't see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn't work," he said.

On top of that, France's austerity drive and strains in the relationship between it and fellow EU powerhouse Germany, have exposed fault lines in any potential security agreement.

This month, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticized French defense spending, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete action.

"We are looking forward to and eagerly await another speech by the French president," Wadephul added.

But Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.

He said people in Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.

"French and British nuclear forces -- as the core of a future European strategic deterrent -- likely need to grow in size and change composition (or both)," he wrote.

While a NATO member, France does not make its atomic weapons available to the alliance.

But in his last nuclear doctrine update in 2020, Macron called for dialogue among EU countries about what role the French nuclear deterrent could play.

- 'Expectations' -

NATO's secretary-general at the time, Jens Stoltenberg, dismissed Macron's call for strategic dialogue in Europe, arguing that a "tried and tested" deterrent was already in place.

But the picture changed after Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, repeatedly brandishing the threat of Moscow's nuclear arsenal, while Trump has pushed Europe down his list of priorities.

Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in contemporary military studies and nuclear doctrines, also warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.

"This speech creates expectations," he said. "If it is weak, people will wonder why it was made in the first place. If it is strong, with real changes, the consequences could be significant."

But Macron's address could also spark a domestic political backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen's Euroskeptic far right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.

"The fear is that it could discredit any form of European dimension," said Galleri.