{"id":89462,"date":"2025-10-18T21:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T21:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/89462\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T21:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T21:50:07","slug":"tory-mp-reports-ai-generated-deepfake-video-announcing-his-defection-to-reform-uk-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/89462\/","title":{"rendered":"Tory MP reports \u2018AI-generated deepfake\u2019 video announcing his defection to Reform UK | Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Conservative MP has reported an \u201cAI-generated deepfake\u201d video of him announcing that he has joined Reform UK<\/a> to the police, according to reports.<\/p>\n

George Freeman, the MP for Mid Norfolk, denounced the video and, in a Facebook post<\/a>, called the deliberate spread of misinformation through AI-generated content a \u201cconcerning and dangerous development\u201d.<\/p>\n

The video, which was widely circulated online, appeared to show the former Tory minister standing and speaking to the camera while saying he was switching allegiance and joining Nigel Farage\u2019s party.<\/p>\n

It also showed the AI-generated Freeman saying the \u201ctime for half measures is over\u201d and that the \u201cConservative party had lost its way\u201d, while saying he was leaving the party.<\/p>\n

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the MP said he had \u201cno intention of joining Reform or any other party. The LDRS also stated that Freeman reported the video to the police.<\/p>\n

Responding to the clip, Freeman said: \u201cThe video is a fabrication, created without my knowledge or consent, and uses my image and voice without permission. Regardless of my position as an MP, that should be an offence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis sort of political disinformation has the potential to seriously distort, disrupt and corrupt our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A still taken from the \u2018AI-generated deepfake\u2019. Photograph: Facebook<\/p>\n

The MP then said he did not know whether the incident was a \u201cpolitically motivated attack\u201d or a \u201cdangerous prank\u201d. He also said that there has been a \u201chuge increase in political disinformation, disruption and extremism\u201d on both the left and right in recent months.<\/p>\n

Freeman said: \u201cI have reported this matter to the relevant authorities, and I urge anyone who sees the video to report it immediately rather than share it further.\u201d<\/p>\n

After getting elected in 2010, Freeman served in various ministerial positions in the previous Conservative government. Most recently, he was the minister for science, innovation and technology.<\/p>\n

Norfolk police have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Conservative MP has reported an \u201cAI-generated deepfake\u201d video of him announcing that he has joined Reform UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-89462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}