Senator creates deepfake videos to warn of election threat
Independent Australian senator David Pocock created deepfake videos of the Prime Minister and opposition leader to warn of the threat generative AI poses to democratic elections. The videos, created without existing legal restrictions, prompted calls for legislation to ban such technology in election campaigns.
What happened
Independent senator David Pocock created two AI-generated deepfake videos, one showing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing a complete ban on gambling advertising and another showing opposition leader Peter Dutton supporting such a ban.
Pocock posted the videos to social media in September 2024 to demonstrate how generative AI can be used to mimic and confuse, stating 'That video is fake, and there are currently no laws against making videos like that.'
Reported impact
Pocock warned that deepfakes and generative AI pose a real risk to democracy and called for the government to ban the use of this technology in elections.
He expressed concern that parliament was not showing the urgency required to protect democracy from generative AI before the next election.
Index analysis
The deepfakes were created intentionally to highlight potential misuse of generative AI technology in political contexts.
Pocock chose a controversial topic—a complete gambling advertising ban—to demonstrate the technology's capacity to falsely represent political positions.
Governance controls
The government spokesperson said the government was 'considering the advice' of the Australian Electoral Commission on regulating AI use.
No laws existed at the time to prevent the creation of such deepfake videos.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.