‘Dog tax’: PF to investigate Haddad deepfake

A fake artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video featuring Fernando Haddad will become a police case. The Ministry of Finance requested an investigation into the clip, which was widely spread on social networks and messaging sites.

The material is just over 30 seconds long and simulates an interview with Haddad for media outlets. In the video he says “The plan is to tax everything this year.” and what the new taxes include Taxes on pets, taxes on pregnant women before the baby is born, and taxes on profits made by sports betting houses.popular bets.

“Brazilians like the new tax too, right?. Everybody knows taxes and Big Brother are our passion“, says the fake video that mimics the minister’s appearance and voice.

There is no indication on social media or in the video itself that the material has been artificially produced.

The clip includes a watermark identifying the author, who uses the pseudonym King IA on TikTok and shares other deepfake content on his profile. Politicians like President Lula as well as Neymar Jr. and celebrities such as Gusttavo Lima are depicted in mock speeches..

Haddad’s video appears to have been deleted from the profile identified as its creator. but copies circulated on various digital platforms and were even republished by government opponents.Like federal MP Osmar Terra from the MDB of Rio Grande do Sul.

What does the government say

The Federal Police was informed to investigate the source of the video and how it was spread, particularly through malicious messages. Also Federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU) Officially asked Facebook to remove deepfake posts or modified to bring context.

According to AGU, the manipulated post contains: “Attributing false information and non-existent statements to the minister“about”matters of public interest“, creating the possibility of confusing the population.

so far Meta did not respond to the government on what to do about the broadcasts. This week billionaire Mark Zuckerberg confirmed changes to the moderation of the company’s social networks, including Facebook and Instagram, making content curation more flexible in favor of freedom of expression.

Copies of Hadda’s fake video are also still up on the old Twitter X and can easily be found by searching the platform.

In addition to demand; Haddad recorded a video denying tax formation – Including the alleged tax on Pix, which is also circulating on social media and is false.

The minister also stated that the only new tax that has actually come into force in Brazil includes the betting tax, and that this tax has been regulated in the country as of this month.

Deepfakes are evolving

One of the government’s concerns is that the video could be portrayed as a genuine statement by the minister. If viewed with poor quality or carelessness, The clip can deceive even unsuspecting people as it already has advanced quality audio and video transcription by artificial intelligence.

The technique used in this case appears to be creating a deepfake. In these montages, the facial area of ​​an actual video is manipulated to add another face or change the lip-sync of the animated person.

Combined with artificial voice generation, something that is currently also possible through multiple service and language models, It is possible to get the person to say something completely differentlike in the viral video.

There are some sudden cuts in the image, changes in the lips and voice timbre, but overall quality copy of the minister’s tone of voice and appearance This could be explained by the possible large number of images of the politician used to feed the AI, especially since he is a public and highly visible figure.