Supporters of Donald Trump have been creating and sharing AI-generated fake images of black voters to encourage African Americans to vote Republican, a BBC Panorama investigation has found. The deepfakes, which portray black people as supporting the former president, are part of an emerging disinformation trend ahead of the US presidential election in November.
The manipulated images appear to have been made and shared by US voters themselves, unlike in 2016 when foreign influence campaigns were evident. One creator, Mark Kaye, a conservative radio host in Florida, admitted he was not claiming the images were accurate. He shared an AI-generated picture of Mr Trump smiling with black women on Facebook, where he has over one million followers.
Another widely viewed image showed Mr Trump posing with black voters on a front porch. Originally posted by a satirical account, it gained widespread attention when reposted with a false caption claiming he had stopped his motorcade to meet the people. The account's owner, a Trump supporter in Michigan, blocked the BBC when questioned about the image.
Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said the images pushed a 'strategic narrative' to show Mr Trump as popular in the black community. He noted a resurgence of disinformation tactics targeting black voters, particularly younger ones. In Georgia, a key battleground state, even a small shift in black voter support could prove decisive.
