Why flood of AI deepfakes is accusing Singapore of being ‘ungrateful’ to China - South China…
A coordinated deepfake campaign used AI-generated videos to accuse Singapore of being ungrateful to China, sparking debate about the source and intent of the disinformation.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- Singapore
In May 2024, a coordinated campaign of AI-generated videos targeted Singapore, accusing the nation of being ungrateful to China. The Chinese-language videos, which circulated on platforms like Douyin and WeChat, sparked discussion about the use of AI in disinformation campaigns.
What happened
The videos featured different narrators delivering identical scripts critical of Singapore's relationship with China and its perceived alignment with the United States. Digital experts identified the clips as likely AI deepfakes, noting the identical scripts across different videos. At least 40 such clips were shared in a single month, with some garnering over 1,000 likes each. WeChat flagged some videos as potentially AI-generated. The videos commonly accused Singapore of disrespecting China despite receiving trade support from Beijing. The same individuals also appeared in videos discussing other topics, including US and Chinese politics, with each video beginning by claiming Singapore is the most miserable country in the world.