Activist couple Masri and Barnard were accused of being "known terrorist sympathisers" by an unknown entity disguised as a "student". 

London-based academic Mazen Masri and his wife Ryvka Bernard were attacked in an article for US Jewish nespaper The Algemeiner apparently written by University of Birmingham student "Oliver Taylor." 

Someone of the same name had bylines in the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel, and "he" was described in online profiles as a coffee lover and politics junkie. However, experts identified Taylor's photograph had been generated using AI and journalists found that he did not exist. 

Others suspect Taylor was concocted by controversial Israeli company NSO Group, against which Masri had launched an Israeli lawsuit on behalf of alleged Mexican victims of the company's phone hacking technology.

The attack resulted in the immediate and severe reputational destruction of the couple, who faced online vitriol, threats of violence, and professional repercussions. 

The incident was seen to highlight the potential for deepfake technology to be weaponised against individuals, especially activists and public figures.

Timeline ⏰

• January 2024. First "whistleblower" video featuring the AI-generated student is uploaded to TikTok and X (formerly Twitter).

• February 2024. The videos go viral; the targeted couple begins receiving death threats and is placed under investigation by their employers.

• Late February 2024. Digital forensics experts and OSINT researchers flag the "student" as a deepfake, noting unnatural blinking patterns and audio-visual desync.

• March 2024. Social media platforms remove the content, but "mirror" versions continue to circulate on encrypted messaging apps.

• April 2024. Law enforcement begins tracing the metadata of the original uploads to identify the perpetrator.

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-deepfake-activist-idUSKCN24G15E

• https://www.inputmag.com/culture/oliver-taylor-is-a-deepfake-but-hes-making-very-real-accusations

• https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-fake-journalist

• https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/deepfake-oliver-taylor-mazen-masri-terrorist-accuse-london-university-of-birmingham-student-fake-profile-2264044

• https://nypost.com/2020/07/15/deepfake-used-to-attack-activist-couple-shows-new-disinformation-frontier/

• https://www.insider.com/deepfake-used-to-attack-activist-couple-shows-new-disinformation-frontier-2020-7

• https://www.newsweek.com/what-deepfake-technology-dangers-maker-software-examples-1519097

• https://www.ft.com/content/10781c77-5fa6-405a-85f6-a799e24172ff