Two influencer accounts created by artificial intelligence with the faces of Marion Maréchal and Marine Le Pen have been deleted from Tik Tok. These deepfakes are accused of promoting the extreme right.
Very popular and even viral, the accounts of the fake nieces of Marine Le Pen ended up disappearing from the Tik Tok platform. For weeks, the accounts named @Lena.Marechal.LePen and @amandineeette have been broadcasting numerous videos on social networks, modified using artificial intelligence, showing young women with faces similar to those of Marion Maréchal and Marine The pen. These videos were not only content with showing the image of the head of the Reconquest party list and the leader of the National Rally, they were accompanied by far-right speeches.
The deception behind these deepfakes – montages generated using AI capable of superimposing video or audio files – had been revealed several days ago. The accounts had since added the mention “generated by AI” in their description.
The creation, but above all the great success, of this content just two months before the European elections did not go unnoticed and raised questions. Especially since in certain videos, virtual influencers encouraged people to vote for Reconquest or for the RN on June 9. The author(s) of this content were suspected of being supporters of both far-right parties.
Accounts that “had nothing political”
The deepfakes of Léna Marechal and Amandine Le Pen responded to all the viral codes that make a video a hit on social networks: popular music, dances and trendy challenges… with the added bonus of comments reminiscent of far-right speeches . Adding the faces of political figures seemed to be an obvious way to promote Reconquest and the National Rally.
Conclusions that the owner of the old account @Lena.Marechal.LePen refutes. “There was nothing political about it. See it as a social experiment to demonstrate the dangers of misinformation and deepfakes,” he told Tech&Co the author of the content who wanted to remain anonymous.
To believe it, the maneuver was intended to raise awareness of fake news and deepfakes circulating on the Internet. “It is only by educating on these subjects that we will be able” to show the risks linked to this content, he added. In fact, during their existence the accounts did not seem to alert Internet users. The videos posted even received many comments expressing support for the two far-right parties.
But despite the sympathy of the content and subscribers to the accounts of the false Léna Maréchal and Amandine Le Pen, the political leaders of Reconquête and the National Rally did not seem to appreciate the initiative. The Zemmourist party led by the head of the list Marion Maréchal, whose image was hijacked, had reported several of these contents. While within the Le Pen family, contacted by BFMTV, we declared “not being very happy” about this advertisement on social networks. The president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, for his part denounced a “malicious use” of AI and called for more regulation.