Deepfake audio depicts London Mayor dismissing Remembrance Sunday

A number of AI-generated audio clips falsely depicting the Mayor of London denigrating the UK's 2023 Remembrance commemorations raised concerns about the use of synthetic disinformation in politics.

One voice clip impersonating Sadiq Khan disparaged Remembrance weekend and called for pro-Palestinian marches, planned for the same day, to take precedence. The recordings, which have been tracked to Tiktok account HJB News, were spread across multiple platforms before being removed. 

Mr Khan told the BBC that 'The timing couldn't have been better if you're seeking to sow disharmony and cause problems,' and said the posts almost led to ‘serious disorder’. He also expressed concerns that current UK criminal law fails to cover this kind of scenario and is not ‘fit for purpose’.

The incident intensified apprehensions about the risk of artificial intelligence in politics. It came on the heels of another incident involving a deepfake audio recording of Labour party leader Keir Starmer reputedly abusing a member of his staff.