(BBC)–“Donald Trump supporters have been creating and sharing AI-generated fake images of black voters to encourage African Americans to vote Republican. BBC Panorama discovered dozens of deepfakes portraying black people as supporting the former president. Mr Trump has openly courted black voters, who were key to Joe Biden’s election win in 2020.
The co-founder of Black Voters Matter, a group which encourages black people to vote, said the manipulated images were pushing a “strategic narrative” designed to show Mr Trump as popular in the black community. The fake images of black Trump supporters, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), are one of the emerging disinformation trends ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Unlike in 2016, when there was evidence of foreign influence campaigns, the AI-generated images found by the BBC appear to have been made and shared by US voters themselves. Another widely viewed AI image the BBC investigation found shows Mr Trump posing with black voters on a front porch. It had originally been posted by a satirical account that generates images of the former president, but only gained widespread attention when it was reposted with a new caption falsely claiming that he had stopped his motorcade to meet these people.
Cliff Albright, the co-founder of campaign group Black Voters Matter, said there appeared to be a resurgence of disinformation tactics targeting the black community, as in the 2020 election. “There have been documented attempts to target disinformation to black communities again, especially younger black voters,” he said. Mr Albright said the fake images were consistent with a “very strategic narrative” pushed by conservatives – from the Trump campaign down to influencers online – designed to win over black voters. They are particularly targeting young black men, who are thought to be more open to voting for Mr Trump than black women.”
There was a concerted campaign by Russian operatives to disenfranchise black voters by spreading disinformation in the 2016 Presidential Election, to help elect Donald Trump. That same playbook is being used against minority communities again in the 2024 Presidential race. However, it’s Trump surrogates within the United States utilizing A.I. technology this time around.
In 2016 the push was more focused on disparaging Hillary Clinton and promoting Jill Stein as a better alternative for the black community. Sadly Russia’s approach to interfering in the election was quite successful. As voter turnout was low among minorities allowing 3rd party candidate, Jill Stein’s, small percentage of voters to be enough to swing the election in Trump’s favor.
Although the Republican narrative is much different in 2024, if effective it could have similar disastrous consequences as the 2016 efforts. Instead of focusing solely on a 3rd party spoiler to do their bidding. They have chosen to completely fabricate Trump’s record with causes most important to minorities. Whether it’s lies about Trump “saving” HBCUs when he was the sole reason for the financial crisis they faced. His distortion of COVID payments that he plastered his name on the checks passed by Democratic Controlled Congress. Along with his constant false claims that Unemployment for minorities was at an all-time low when he was in office. When President Biden has that distinction, not Trump. In fact, Trump was the first President since the Depression to leave office with a net job loss.
Trump in just the last week has made overt racist attempts to garner support from black voters. He created a gaudy sneaker line intended to attract young black men. As if shiny sneakers could erase his racist past. While boasting that his criminal behavior was on par with the racial injustices minorities have endured throughout this nation’s history. Then comparing his bigoted Republican cohort Mark Robinson to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Saying Robinson “was MLK Jr on steroids” adding he “was even better than” Dr. King.
We may be just getting into the heart of election season but the dirty tricks and outright lies are already making their way into social media feeds nationwide. There may be no magical way to fully stop them from spreading. But do your part in making sure that you aren’t adding to the disinformation epidemic that passes your profiles. If you see or know of someone unknowingly posting fake or misleading content simply correct the information with fact-based rebuttals. The American public is under attack by foreign and domestic entities whose only goal is to further divide and destabilize the population. Don’t allow others to use your online presence as an unsuspecting weapon against the strength of our democracy. Just because we want to believe something doesn’t make it true. At the end of the day, we each only have one vote to cast. So do everything in your power to make that important decision based upon the actual truth, not the distorted rhetoric being spewed all around us.
Previous Articles Covering Trump’s Efforts To Get Black Voters
Click the link below for the BBC article quoted in this column
The-Anti-Social-Media Pro-DEMOCRACY WING 