Facebook and YouTube say they removed Zelensky deepfake

Facebook and YouTube said Wednesday that they removed uploads of a deepfake video of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky that purported to show him yielding to Russia.

The deepfake spread widely online Wednesday, as noticed earlier by Vice's Motherboard. In the video, which CNN Business has reviewed, Zelensky appears to stand behind a presidential podium and in front of a backdrop, both of which feature the Ukranian coat of arms. Wearing a green shirt, Zelensky speaks in Ukranian, appearing to tell Ukranians to put down their weapons in the weeks-old war against Russia.

Deepfakes — which combine the terms "deep learning" and "fake" — are persuasive-looking but false video and audio files. Made using cutting-edge and relatively accessible AI technology, they aim to show a real person doing or saying something they did not. Experts have long been concerned that, as they improve, they would be used to spread misinformation.

In a series of posts on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Meta's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote that the company spotted and removed the video earlier that day. "We've quickly reviewed and removed this video for violating our policy against misleading manipulated media, and notified our peers at other platforms," he wrote.

YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said the video and reuploads of it have been removed from the platform because it violates the company's misinformation policies. "We do allow this video if it provides sufficient education, documentary, scientific or artistic context," Choi said in a statement.