Facebook and Twitter on Friday disabled a global network of hundreds of fake accounts that pushed pro-Trump messages and covered its tracks using inauthentic photos generated with the aid of artificial intelligence.
The use of AI to trick social-media companies, deceive unsuspecting users and essentially create people who do not exist marked a major, troubling new development, according to disinformation researchers, who expressed fresh alarm that such tactics could have implications for the 2020 presidential election.
The tech giants’ takedown targeted The BL, a U.S.-based media company that Facebook linked to Epoch Media Group. The organization has criticized the Chinese government, and it has ties to the Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement. It also has vociferously supported the reelection of President Trump.