Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe alerted residents to an AI-generated deepfake video that mimics one of her social media posts. The deepfake is one of many posted by the same account that uses her image and likeness to satirize her actions in office.
Buffaloe said she has not looked into taking legal action against the video creator but is concerned about deepfakes’ potential to blur the line between authentic speech and misinformation.
“I worry that it’s going to make people just kind of check out, right? Just stop paying attention to things and stop caring,” Buffaloe said. “And I think that’s the last thing we need right now.”
The videos imitating Buffaloe are still up and have gathered tens of thousands of views. Buffaloe said there are not many options to address deepfakes other than reporting them as false information.
With an all-women city council in Columbia, Buffaloe says another concern could be people harassing councilwomen through deepfakes. Almost all deepfake videos created online are sexual in nature and of women, according to the United Nations.
“I think the concern you see with this is that usually attacks on women are in reference to our appearance or some other aspects like, can we do it if we’re a mom as well?” Buffaloe said. “It’s not necessarily attacks on policy or decisions that were made.”
Missouri prohibits using pornographic deepfakes to terrorize another person but is lagging on regulation of AI in political messaging.
The deepfakes of Buffaloe posted online are not sexual in nature but are being posted by an anonymous account, limiting their legal accountability.
University of Missouri journalism professor Jared Schroeder warned restricting political AI deepfakes may solve one problem but could create others in freedom of speech.
“You don’t want to create a system where, you know, a political cartoonist, or the daily show, or Saturday Night Live, or like meme culture, all the memes, like, where that is illegal,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder said older laws around likeness, copyright and privacy could serve as legal enforcement in the currently uncharted legal territory of deepfakes. Regardless, he said the U.S. system leans toward free expression over restrictions.
“The U.S. system is like the woods behind my house, right?" Schroeder said. "I don’t manicure the woods behind my house. They’re just the woods behind my house — I like them that way. In Europe, they’re far more aggressive, right? They’re far more willing to limit expression.”
