Malaysia minister, aide gay sex 'deepfake'

A gay sex video allegedly featuring Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia's Minister of Economic Affairs, and Muhammad Haziq Abdul Aziz, a rival minister’s 27-year-old aide circulated on WhatsApp and more widely, leading to a political controversy, calls for resignations, and a police investigation.

Aziz swore that the video was real, but the minister and Prime Minister dismissed it as a deepfake, leading Aziz to post a 'confession' to Facebook a few hours later. 

As Intelligencer noted, the fact that the video may have been a deepfake may have allowed the minister to escape the serious legal consequences he may otherwise expect in a socially conservative country.

'Nowadays you can produce all kinds of pictures if you are clever enough,' then Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad retorted. 'One day you may also see my picture like that. It would be very funny.'