A Conservative former minister said a video of him apparently defecting to Reform is ‘entirely fake and false’, saying it shows the danger of AI-fuelled misinformation.
George Freeman, the Tory MP for Mid Norfolk, said he had ‘no intention’ of joining Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The clip, in which he appeared to say ‘the time for half measures is over’ and that the ‘Conservative party had lost its way’, had been widely circulated, including by a page called ‘Brexit Brian’.
In a statement shared to his social media, Mr Freeman MP said: ‘I have reported this matter to the relevant authorities, and I urge anyone who sees the video to report it immediately rather than share it further. Robust action must be taken by all to tackle the growing issue of “fake news” and this includes the social media platforms.’
He said: ‘The video is a fabrication, created without my knowledge or consent, and uses my image and voice without permission. Regardless of my position as an MP – that should be an offence.
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‘The deliberate spread of disinformation through AI-generated content – whether aimed at stealing identity for fraud, mis-selling, political indoctrination or any other purpose – is a concerning and dangerous development.’
He added that in recent months there has been a ‘huge increase in political disinformation’, with intelligence services were clear that ‘Russia and other rogue states are engaging in cyber disruption on an industrial scale, alongside organised cyber crime’.
Although he said he did not know whether the deepfake video was made by political opponents or was just a ‘dangerous prank’, he said it was an example of the kind of communication which could ‘seriously distort, disrupt and corrupt our democracy’.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, former science minister Mr Freeman MP has reported the incident to the police.
Norfolk Police was contacted for comment.
Security experts have raised the alarm for some time about deepfakes eroding trust in society by making it difficult to know what is real and what is artifically generated.
The recent developments in AI video using tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo have made it easier than ever for people to create convincing footage, although both have controls in place intended to make it difficult to impersonate real people.
Nevertheless, experts told Metro that tools like this create a ‘real risk’ for misinformation and disinformation.
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