Fake celebrities on TikTok. A US professor suggests banning the app

In recent days, TikTok and other social media have been struggling with a wave of deepfakes that use the likenesses of celebrities and actors without consent. The aim is often fraud, advertising and other activities to gain the trust of Internet users with a famous face.

Wave of fake news on TikTok – YouTubers and actors warn

Fraudsters are increasingly bold in stealing the identities of celebrities, which they use to create false advertisements. The heroes of fake spots have already been, among others: MrBeast or Tom Hanks.

One of the first high-profile targets was the world’s leading YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson. The author better known as MrBeast warned his fans against fraud. “If you are watching this video, you are one of 10,000 people who will win an iPhone 15 Pro for $2,” begins the fake footage, which almost perfectly reproduces the voice and shows Donaldson speaking. TikTok has since removed the video, citing the authors’ concealment of the fact that the material used AI.

Tom Hanks was the next one to be exploited. “Be careful! There is a video circulating on the Internet promoting some dental services in which an AI version of me was used. I had nothing to do with it,” he said on his official Instagram account. People who have seen the ad say the star’s video actually uses a computer-generated voice and even matches Hanks’ mouth movements to what is being said.

Another alarm was raised by TV presenter Gayle King, who unexpectedly saw herself in an advertisement for an unknown product. “People send me this video and ask about this product. I have NOTHING to do with this company. I posted the video below promoting my radio show and they edited my voice and video to make it look like a product promotion. Don’t fall for these AI materials,” warns the American.

American professor on TikTok

Recently, due to the growing controversies related to the application, Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University, appealed for its exclusion. According to the expert, the program may still pose a threat to American national security.

– The fact that we allowed TikTok to come to the US, to Europe, is crazy – the professor sharply noted during a recent conference in Helsinki. He also called the company behind the application “the fastest-growing technology company in history,” which may, however, be a “threat to the national defense” of the United States.

– If I were them, I’d put my thumb on the scale. Gently, secretly and elegantly. He promoted content that was harmful to the West and promoted pro-Chinese materials. This will create a new generation of European and American leaders – military, civilian, corporate and organizational – who will feel increasingly worse about democracy. And somehow believe that Taiwan should be a province of China, he argued.