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If a video, voice message, image or social post appears to impersonate a candidate, election official or government agency, preserve the original and its context first, then report it both to the platform and—when it may involve threats, fraud, voter suppression or another crime—to the FBI. Verify the claim through a state or local election office or another independently known official channel, and call 911 for an immediate safety threat. AI generation by itself does not prove a crime; the deception, intent and resulting harm determine which response is appropriate.
What should I do first when I find a political deepfake?
Use a preserve, verify, report and escalate sequence. Do not share the material while you are checking it: every repost can increase its reach and make the original harder to identify.
- Preserve evidence. Save the original file or message if you can. Take screenshots that show the account name, profile, full URL, date and time, caption, comments and visible engagement. Keep copies of the audio or video and the original communications, including emails, texts or direct messages. The Department of Justice says original communications and screenshots or audio or video recordings help the FBI assess suspected criminal election activity.
- Record identifying details without amplifying the post. Write down the account handle, post ID if displayed, platform, discovery time and any linked website. Do not quote-post, forward or reply to the suspected impersonator merely to ask whether it is real.
- Verify independently. Check the relevant state or local election office, the named candidate’s or campaign’s established channels, and official government accounts. Use a phone number or web address you already know or locate independently, not contact information supplied in the suspicious post.
- Report it in the platform’s own system. Select the narrowest available category, such as manipulated media, impersonation, election misinformation, voter suppression or fraud. Include the original URL and explain what is being impersonated and what voting harm could result.
- Escalate suspected criminal conduct. Contact your local FBI field office or Election Crime Coordinator when the material includes threats, fraud, foreign influence, or knowingly false information about the time, place or manner of voting. Use the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) for an internet-enabled crime and CISA’s reporting channel when the incident is relevant to cybersecurity.
- Handle immediate danger as an emergency. If a person faces imminent physical harm, call 911 or local police instead of waiting for a platform review.
Where should I report a political deepfake?
The right destination depends on the harm and the urgency. A platform can limit distribution, election officials can correct voting information, and law-enforcement or cyber agencies can investigate conduct that may violate criminal law.
| Route | Best for | What to provide | Urgency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social platform report | Impersonation, manipulated media, election misinformation, voter suppression or fraud appearing on the service | Post URL, account handle, screenshots, time observed and a concise explanation of the false claim | As soon as the evidence is preserved |
| State or local election office | False instructions about registration, polling place, voting time, eligibility or voting method | The exact statement, affected jurisdiction, URL and the correct information from an official source | Immediately, especially during voting periods |
| Local FBI field office or Election Crime Coordinator | Threats, fraud, foreign influence, or knowingly false information intended to deprive people of the right to vote | Original communications, recordings, screenshots, account details, timestamps and your independent verification | Immediately when criminal or potentially criminal conduct is suspected |
| IC3 | Internet-enabled fraud or other cyber-enabled criminal activity connected to the impersonation | Victim and suspect details, payment or account information if relevant, URLs, files and a chronology | Promptly; preserve data before accounts or posts change |
| CISA reporting channel | Relevant cyber incidents affecting election or government systems | Technical indicators, affected systems, times, screenshots and contact details for follow-up | Follow the current CISA instructions for the incident type |
| 911 or local police | Imminent physical danger, a specific threat or a rapidly unfolding emergency | Location, threatened person, exact words or media, account information and why you believe danger is immediate | Now |
These routes are not mutually exclusive. A single incident can warrant a platform report, an election-office correction and an FBI or IC3 report; submit the same preserved facts rather than repeatedly downloading or reposting the content.
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What evidence should I save before reporting?
Investigators need to see both the alleged deepfake and the surrounding context. Preserve information that may disappear when a post is edited, deleted or placed behind a login.
- The original video, audio, image, message or email, preferably in the form in which you received it.
- Screenshots of the entire post, including the profile, handle, URL, caption, date, time, comments and engagement counts.
- A copy of the account’s profile page and any linked domain or contact address.
- The original communications that delivered the material, such as a direct message, text or email, including headers when available.
- A short chronology: when you saw it, where it appeared, when you saved it and which official channel you used for verification.
- The correct information supplied by an election office, campaign or government agency, with the date and channel used to confirm it.
- Any evidence of harm, such as people being directed to the wrong polling place, asked for money, threatened or prevented from accessing a voting service.
Do not edit the only copy, add filters or convert a recording in a way that strips metadata. If you must transcode a file to upload it, keep the untouched original separately and label the converted copy.
How can I verify whether a candidate video or cloned voice is authentic?
Independent confirmation is stronger than trying to diagnose artificial media from its appearance. The FBI’s May 15, 2025 alert says AI-generated content has advanced to the point that it is often difficult to identify.
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Call a phone number published on the official campaign, government or election-office website, or use an established account you located independently. Ask whether the person made the statement and whether the recording was edited. Do not use a number, QR code or link displayed only in the suspicious material.
Inspect the surrounding details
Check the spelling of domains and account names, contact details, unusual URLs and inconsistencies in dates or locations. Look for mismatched lip movement, unnatural lighting, abrupt audio changes or odd hands and text, but treat each as a clue rather than proof.
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Compare the claim with election information
For voting instructions, compare the message with the state or local election office’s current information. A post that changes the time, place or manner of voting deserves priority escalation even if the synthetic nature of the media cannot yet be established.
Check platform context without trusting labels blindly
Review any AI or manipulated-media label and the platform’s policy, but do not treat the absence of a label as authentication. A genuine recording can be edited or mislabeled, and a polished synthetic clip can lack obvious visual artifacts.
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When is a political deepfake potentially a crime?
The Department of Justice says generative AI is not inherently criminal and is generally protected expression. It can, however, facilitate threats, fraud or deliberate election disinformation that deprives people of the right to vote.
Knowingly false voting instructions
False statements about when, where or how to vote are a priority reporting category in FBI and CISA guidance when they are designed to deprive individuals of their voting rights. Report the exact instruction and the affected jurisdiction, not merely a conclusion that the video is “fake.”
Threats and targeted intimidation
A fabricated voice ordering violence, threatening an election worker or naming a target can create an urgent safety issue regardless of whether the audio is ultimately proven synthetic. Use 911 for imminent danger and preserve the threatening communication for police and the FBI.
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Fraud and impersonation
A cloned candidate or official asking for money, credentials, votes or access to a system may be part of fraud. The FTC’s Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses, effective April 1, 2024, prohibits impersonation of government, businesses and their officials or agents in interstate commerce. The rule does not make every parody or political fabrication illegal; report the conduct and requested action so the relevant agency can assess jurisdiction.
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FBI and CISA describe generative-AI deepfakes as one tactic in foreign malign influence operations intended to undermine confidence in democratic institutions. If the incident also involves compromised accounts, malicious links or an attack on an election or government system, include those technical facts in a CISA or IC3 report.
How do I write an effective platform or FBI report?
Make the first paragraph a factual incident summary. Reviewers should be able to locate the content and understand the potential harm without opening a chain of reposts.
- Identify the content: name the platform, account handle, URL, post date and the format (video, audio, image or text).
- Describe the impersonation: state who appears to be speaking or acting and which words, instructions or request are false or disputed.
- Explain the verification: identify the independently known campaign, government or election-office channel that confirmed or contradicted it, including when you checked.
- Describe the harm: specify threats, fraud, voter suppression, foreign influence, election-system impact or another concrete risk.
- List the preserved material: note the original file, screenshots, communications and chronology you can provide, and keep the files available for follow-up.
- State urgency: say clearly if a person is in immediate danger, voting is underway, or the post is rapidly spreading.
Do not speculate about the creator’s identity or claim certainty about synthetic generation when you have only indicators. “The account appears to impersonate the county election office and directs voters to an address that the county confirmed is not a polling place” is more useful than an unsupported technical diagnosis.
What should election offices and campaigns do when an AI voice clone appears?
Organizations should prepare their verification and escalation process before an incident. FBI and CISA guidance emphasizes trusted official sources; a rapid, consistent response can prevent a false instruction from becoming the public’s only reference.
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- Publish a verification phone number or alternate channel that staff and the public can use if the main account is compromised.
- Maintain an incident log with discovery time, URLs, screenshots, affected jurisdictions, decisions and every agency contact.
- Define escalation contacts for counsel, communications staff, the FBI, the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) and CISA.
- Preserve the original media and communications before requesting takedown or correction.
- Issue accurate voting information through established websites, press contacts, social accounts and other trusted channels; link people to the official source rather than embedding the false clip.
- Explain what is confirmed, what remains under investigation and where voters can verify future updates.
Campaigns and offices should coordinate legal, security and communications decisions, because a takedown request, public rebuttal and law-enforcement report may need to happen in parallel.
What mistakes make a deepfake incident worse?
- Reposting to warn people: a warning can still increase reach. Share the reporting route and a link to the correction instead of the suspected media.
- Deleting the only copy: platform removal can erase context investigators need. Save the original and screenshots first.
- Relying on visual tells: artifacts are not conclusive, and authentic material can be edited or mislabeled.
- Using contact information in the suspicious post: verify phone numbers, domains and accounts independently.
- Reporting only to the platform: moderation cannot replace an FBI, election-office, IC3 or CISA report when the conduct may be criminal or affect voting access.
- Assuming every synthetic political statement is illegal: the legal question turns on conduct, intent and harm, not on AI generation alone.
- Waiting for certainty during an emergency: call 911 for imminent danger and report the facts you have; do not delay because forensic authentication is incomplete.
How do I decide which report to file?
Use the harm and urgency, not the media’s technical sophistication, as the decision rule.
| If the main issue is… | Start with… | Also consider… |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong polling time, place or voting method | State or local election office and the platform | Local FBI Election Crime Coordinator if the information is knowingly false and intended to suppress voting |
| Threat of violence or immediate physical harm | 911 or local police | FBI and platform after emergency responders are contacted |
| Money, credentials or access requested by an impersonator | Platform and IC3 | FBI; preserve transaction and account records |
| Foreign influence or coordinated manipulation | FBI and platform | CISA when election or government systems are involved |
| Compromised election or government technology | CISA and the affected election office | FBI or IC3 for suspected criminal intrusion |
| Uncertain authenticity with no clear harm yet | Independent verification and platform report | Election officials or the FBI if the content later shows criminal or voting-related conduct |
What happens after I report it?
A platform may remove, label, limit or leave up the material under its current policy. Election officials may publish a correction, while the FBI, IC3 or CISA may request additional files or details; none of these agencies guarantees a public case update.
Keep the preserved evidence, report confirmation numbers and a record of follow-up contacts. If the post changes, reappears or moves to another account, document the new URL and report the continuation without deleting the original record.
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Can I report a political deepfake anonymously?
Some reporting systems accept tips without public disclosure of the reporter, but anonymity and confidentiality rules differ by agency and platform. Ask about those limits before sharing sensitive personal information, and provide a safe way to contact you if investigators need the original files.
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What if the platform removes the post before I save it?
Report what you observed anyway, including the account, approximate time, URL, screenshots or messages from people who received it. Tell the election office or FBI that the content is no longer available and preserve any notification or cached copy you lawfully retained.
Is a parody of a candidate automatically illegal?
No. Political expression and satire can be protected, and the DOJ says generative AI itself is not inherently criminal. The concern increases when an impersonation is used for threats, fraud, deliberate voter suppression or another unlawful act.
Should I confront the person who posted the suspected deepfake?
No. Direct contact can alert an operator, trigger deletion or expose you to harassment. Preserve the account details and let the platform, election officials or investigators handle contact.
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Use a state or local election office’s independently verified website or phone number for voting logistics, even when a message appears to come from a familiar candidate. Do not rely on a forwarded clip, a caller ID display or an account badge as proof of identity.
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