Unauthorized AI Video Misrepresents Joaquim Barbosa as Presidential Candidate

What happened

On May 22, 2026, the Democracia Cristã party released an AI-generated video on an Instagram profile with 258 followers. The video depicted former Supreme Court president Joaquim Barbosa as a presidential candidate for the October 2026 election.

The synthetic video showed a digital representation of Barbosa walking in judicial robes before television screens displaying headlines and images involving Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's connections to banker Daniel Vorcaro and President Lula's statements about drug users. Barbosa appeared holding a remote control, turning off the screens, and declaring 'it's time to turn the page.'

Reported impact

Joaquim Barbosa stated he did not authorize or have prior knowledge of the video. He confirmed his affiliation with Democracia Cristã was to participate in public debate during the election year, but that he would not enter any candidacy without a structured project and government program developed by experts.

The video's release created internal crisis within Democracia Cristã, which previously had Aldo Rebelo as its presidential pre-candidate. Adriano Gehres, the party's coordinator of qualitative research, stated the video was 'an isolated initiative made by the party' and was not tested in research or submitted to Barbosa for approval.

Governance controls

Barbosa's team stated that any use of his image in campaigns or pre-candidacies requires formal authorization.

Classification

Organizations

Democracia Cristã (subject), Joaquim Barbosa (victim)

Category

Misinformation and synthetic media

Industry

Media, social platforms and marketing

Country

Brazil

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Unintentional

Timing

Unknown

Harm types

Reputational

Failure modes

Deepfake video, Manipulation or dark pattern

AI systems

AI video generation system

Sources and evidence