A public service video warns of the dangers of online misinformation via digital technology — by manipulating a recording of the former US president.
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“We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time, even if they would never say those things,” are the words you hear and see Barack Obama saying on the screen.
The video seems to be a message from the former president about the dangers of fake news on the internet. That is until the screen is split to reveal actor and director Jordan Peele delivering his famous Obama impression.
The subsequent phrases in the video are not what many would expect coming from the mouth of the former occupant of the White House.
The short message was produced by Buzzfeed with Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, using the graphics programme After Effects and video-editing programme Fakeapp — which has been used to superimpose celebrities’ faces onto pornographic videos.
Peele and Buzzfeed wanted to raise digital awareness in an era when technology makes it increasingly easy to spread misinformation by manipulating audio and video.
Watch the fake Obama video here: