Battle With X Over Starmer Deepfake Highlights UK Election Worry
- Firm rebuffed Labour’s request to take down clip, people say
- Opposition party is training candidates on disinformation risk
Keir Starmer
Photographer: Ian Forsyth/BloombergThe social media company X’s refusal to take down a deepfake audio clip of UK opposition leader Keir Starmer has raised alarm bells in the Labour Party about the risk of disinformation ahead of the general election.
The fake recording portraying Starmer verbally abusing staff was released on the first day of Labour’s annual conference in October. X ignored requests from Labour officials to take down the content, people familiar with the matter said. The clip got about 1.5 million views within days on X and was widely seen as the first major deepfake moment in British politics.