A viral post on X by a user entrenched in the QAnon conspiracy sphere claimed that a former student of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Matthew Metro, alleged that Walz sexually assaulted him in 1997 when he was still a student. The move is part of a broader phenomenon of the right using AI-generated videos to advance their political agenda.
“Breaking: Tim Walz’s former student, Matthew Metro, drops a shocking allegation-claims Walz s*xually assaulted him in 1997 while Walz was his teacher at Mankato West High School. Metro was a senior at the time. If this is true, it’s a political earthquake,” said the user.
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However, users were quick to add Community Notes to the post – which has since been removed from X – to explain that the video is an AI fabrication. Deepfake detection websites flagged this video immediately, and users were quick to point out how the video features unnatural facial movements and a robotic voice, as well as several errors in basic facts, like the years Metro attended the school.
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“That video is a deepfake. If it’s not instantly obvious to most people that it is a deepfake, then we’re soon going to be in serious trouble,” said BBC disinformation journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh.
That video is a deepfake.
If it’s not instantly obvious to most people that it is a deepfake, then we’re soon going to be in serious trouble.
“The speech pattern strongly suggests it’s an AI-generated prompt. For example, listen to how he says ‘sexual assault’ three times within the first 30 seconds. Each time, it’s said with the exact same pitch, tone, and inflection…”
“The facial movements are off—there’s inconsistent muscle movement, drooping of the eyes, irregular eyebrow shifts, and even the disappearance and reappearance of a tooth throughout the video,” said a user who’s linked under the community notes.
Additionally, Metro’s LinkedIn profile reveals that he attended Mankato West High School between 1993 and 1996, not in 1997, as the video claims. His Facebook profile also has photos of him, which appear to be a completely different person from the man in the video.
A Washington Post investigation was able to get in contact with Metro, asking him about the deepfake. He said, “It’s obviously not me: The teeth are different, the hair is different, the eyes are different, the nose is different. I don’t know where they’re getting this from.”
Metro, an out gay man, stressed that the incidents discussed in the fake video – like Walz groping and kissing him in school – never happened.
He said that the video said that he was in the closet in high school and that his parents were getting divorced, both of which are false – he was out in high school and his parents are still married today.
“I was completely out in high school,” he said.
He described his anger at being misrepresented in the video, especially given that his name and identity will forever be associated with the video online. “It’s an invasion of my privacy and my personal life,” he said.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, AI deepfakes are becoming more common, especially across the digital political sphere. They cite an increasing need for the public to be aware of these growing threats and for more education to spread on how to best detect deepfakes. This is especially needed during elections.
According to one 2019 study, “deepfakes are a major threat to society, the political system and businesses because they put pressure on journalists struggling to filter real from fake news, threaten national security by disseminating propaganda that interferes in elections, hamper citizen trust toward information by authorities, and raise cybersecurity issues for people and organizations.”
The author of this study also outlines the necessity for anti-deepfake technology and regulation to come into the midst. There have been increasing calls for the federal government to regulate the growing technology surrounding artificial intelligence, including as it becomes more difficult to discern what is legitimate. Education and training on how to spot deepfakes are emphasized as incredibly necessary.
LGBTQ Nation reached out to Metro, but he did not respond before the publication of this article.
The Harris-Walz campaign declined to comment, stating that they do not comment on misinformation.
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