Rights group Demand Progress Action posted a fake ad-like video featuring Mark Zuckerberg on November 29. The two-minute video is intended to urge US senators to pass antitrust legislation aimed at limiting the power of big tech companies.
In the video, an actor playing the top hat character from Monopoly transforms into Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. The footage is fake video that uses artificial intelligence to make it look like someone is doing or saying something they didn’t say.
This sequence comes as landmark antitrust legislation that would prevent the biggest tech companies like Meta, Google, Amazon or Apple from abusing their dominant position is currently under discussion in the United States. The irony of the video, Mark Zuckerberg, or at least his deepfake, thanks the senators for taking such measures, also repeating sequences of the CEO of Facebook being questioned by Congress about his abuses and the practices of the social network.
Slow legislation and lobbying
Proponents of this policy, including Demand Progress Action, hope to push Congress to pass the bill by the end of the year, before a likely Republican majority arrives. The video specifically targets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. They are blamed for inaction on two technology antitrust bills: the US Online Choice and Innovation Act and the App Open Marketplaces Act.
For their part, the big technology companies have spent more than 120 million dollars against the bill, he says. Bloombergincluding Facebook, which reportedly spent more than $4 million lobbying to oppose the vote.
This is not the first time that Mark Zuckerberg has been the victim of a deepfake. This was already the case in 2019 to warn about the use of personal data by digital giants.
Source: BFM TV
