Deepfake recordings depict British Opposition Leader abusing staff

A deepfake audio recording appearing to depict the leader of the UK Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, swearing at a party staffer raised concerns about the underhanded use of synthetic disinformation in politics.

The audio was posted on X, formerly Twitter, during the first day of the Labour Party Conference and was quickly identified as a hoax by MPs from across the political spectrum. 

Though X's policies explicitly state that users 'may not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media,' it didn't prevent the clip's initial widespread circulation. However, the majority of its copies have since been removed.

The incident intensified apprehensions about the risk of artificial media in politics, coming on the heels of another incident involving a deepfake audio during the Slovakian election targeting their Opposition Leader.