The Impact of Deepfakes on Elections and Methods of Combating Disinformation in the Virtual World

The malicious use of deepfake technology can lead to violations of human rights and freedoms, or even facilitate criminal activities such as financial fraud. However, creating manipulated images can also pose other threats, including those to democratic states and the principles that govern them. The upcoming presidential elections in the United States and the recent parliamentary elections in European and non-European countries have delivered an impulse for a discussion on the impact that deepfake can have on elections, on the ethics of holding elections and on the principles of democracy, on how countries fight these threats, and on how sufficient and effective the implemented methods really are.