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Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI video mimicking an RTÉ bulletin falsely showed Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly quitting; she complained to the Electoral Commission

On the night of Tuesday 21 October 2025, three days before Ireland's presidential election, a video mimicking an RTÉ News bulletin appeared on Facebook and other platforms in which AI-generated versions of an RTÉ presenter and of independent candidate Catherine Connolly announced her withdrawal, and an AI-generated RTÉ political correspondent said the election was cancelled. An emeritus professor of computing told BBC Verify that over-pronounced lip movements and a slight aura around the reporter gave the video away, and the Electoral Commission called it an AI-generated video and escalated it to the platforms. Connolly called the video a fabrication and a disgraceful attempt to mislead voters, said she was still a candidate and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission. Meta removed the posting account for impersonation and YouTube removed the video and its channel; the Irish Examiner reported that it could still be viewed on X.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
21 Oct 2025
Reported
22 October 2025
Event location
Ireland
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Public life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources
7 claims: 1 corroborated, 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Unidentified AI video tool used to make a fake RTÉ News bulletin showing a presidential candidate announcing her withdrawal; the maker is not identified

What Happened

The video. The video appeared online on the night of Tuesday 21 October 2025 (BBC; TheJournal.ie), during the final week of the campaign for Ireland's presidential election on Friday 24 October. It was designed to look like an RTÉ News bulletin and was posted to a Facebook account called RTÉ News AI. In it an AI-generated version of RTÉ presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin announced that Connolly had confirmed her withdrawal, AI-generated footage of Connolly appeared to confirm it, and an AI-generated version of RTÉ political correspondent Paul Cunningham said the election was cancelled and that Heather Humphreys would become president automatically (The Irish Times; TheJournal.ie; Irish Examiner). Reported reach differs: The Irish Times said almost 30,000 views on Facebook before removal, TheJournal.ie more than 160,000, and the Irish Examiner tens of thousands on Facebook and X.

The AI attribution. Alan Smeaton, emeritus professor of computing at Dublin City University and a member of the government's AI Advisory Council, told BBC Verify that slight over-pronunciations in the lips and mouths of the Connolly and RTÉ reporter figures and a slight aura around the reporter in the third shot gave the video away. The Irish Examiner said it could be identified as a deepfake by the unnatural mouth movements and a disembodied voice of a purported supporter. The Electoral Commission's statement called it an AI-generated video. No source identifies the maker or the tool.

Her response. In a statement on 22 October Connolly called the video a fabrication and a disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine democracy, said she was absolutely still a candidate and asked people not to share it. Her campaign reported it to the platforms and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission, asking for removal and clear labelling as fake.

Platform and regulator responses. Meta removed the RTÉ News AI account on 22 October after being contacted by the Irish Independent, saying it does not allow content that impersonates people or organisations (The Irish Times); the Irish Examiner reported the removal as following concerns raised by the Electoral Commission. YouTube removed the video and the channel. Coimisiún na Meán contacted the platform about its Digital Services Act obligations. The Electoral Commission said its powers to compel platforms to remove election disinformation had not yet commenced.

Limits. The video itself was not inspected. The sources do not say who made it, which tool was used or whether anyone was misled about the election. The Politico Europe report cited by the archive could not be read (HTTP 403).

Reported harm

A fabricated news video that an examiner consulted by BBC Verify and the Electoral Commission described as AI-generated showed a presidential candidate announcing a withdrawal she never made; she called it a disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and complained to the Electoral Commission (reported).

Outcome

Unknown

Connolly's campaign reported the video to the platforms and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission said it escalated the videos to the platforms and understood the accounts had been suspended; its spokesperson said its powers to compel platforms to remove election disinformation had not yet commenced (Irish Examiner). Meta removed the RTÉ News AI account on 22 October for breaching its impersonation rules (The Irish Times), and YouTube removed the video and the channel (TheJournal.ie). Coimisiún na Meán contacted the platform and reminded it of its Digital Services Act obligations (The Irish Times). No outcome of the Electoral Commission complaint and no Garda investigation is reported in the sources read.

What remains unknown

  • Who made the video and which AI tool was used.
  • Whether the Electoral Commission complaint led to any further action, or whether the Gardaí investigated.
  • How many people saw the video; the outlets give different figures (almost 30,000, tens of thousands, more than 160,000).
  • Whether any voter was misled about the election.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The video presented AI-generated likenesses of the candidate and two RTÉ journalists in a fake news bulletin announcing her withdrawal, and that depiction is what she condemned and complained about. An emeritus professor of computing who examined it told BBC Verify that over-pronounced lip and mouth movements and an aura around the reporter gave it away, and the Electoral Commission, which escalated it to the platforms, called it an AI-generated video. No source identifies the maker or the tool.

7 claims: 1 corroborated, 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated A video mimicking an RTÉ News bulletin appeared on social media on the night of Tuesday 21 October 2025, showing a likeness of RTÉ presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin announcing Catherine Connolly's withdrawal from the presidential election, footage of Connolly appearing to confirm it, and a likeness of the RTÉ political correspondent saying the election was cancelled; each outlet describes the figures or footage as AI-generated.

Causal attribution. Description of the video by four outlets that each describe its content; the video itself was not inspected.

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The video appeared online on Tuesday night and showed an AI version of Connolly appearing to announce her withdrawal from Friday's election.'; 'The video appeared online on Tuesday night and mimicked an RTÉ news report'
  • irishtimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'AI-generated footage then shows Ms Connolly purporting to say: “It is with great regret that I announce the withdrawal of my candidacy and the ending of my campaign.”'; 'Well, simply put, Friday’s election is now cancelled.'
  • thejournal.ie(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The video, which appeared last night on social media and mimicked an RTÉ Nine O’Clock News broadcast, purported to show presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin announcing Connolly’s withdrawal, followed by AI-generated footage of Connolly appearing to confirm it herself.'; 'The fake segment later cut to fabricated clips of RTÉ political correspondent Paul Cunningham claiming the election had been cancelled and that Heather Humphreys would become president by default.'
  • irishexaminer.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'It shows AI-generated clips of RTÉ presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin, Ms Connolly, and RTÉ political correspondent Paul Cunningham.'
Reported Alan Smeaton, emeritus professor of computing at Dublin City University and a member of the government's AI Advisory Council, told BBC Verify that slight over-pronunciations in the lips and mouths of the Connolly and RTÉ reporter figures and a slight aura around the reporter gave the video away.

Causal attribution. An examiner's observations of the recording as reported by BBC Verify; the basis for the AI attribution.

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Alan Smeaton, emeritus professor of computing at Dublin City University and a member of the Irish government's AI Advisory Council, told BBC Verify there were some "minuscule clues" that gave the video away.'; '"There are slight over-pronunciations in the lips and mouths by both the Catherine Connolly and the RTÉ reporter representations.'; '"There is a slight aura around the news reporter in the third shot, probably because the background is dynamic," he added.'
Reported The Electoral Commission said it became aware of the AI-generated video on the evening of 21 October, escalated it to the platforms with a request for urgent review, and understood the accounts had been suspended; its spokesperson said its powers to compel platforms to remove election disinformation had not yet commenced.

Causal attribution. The Electoral Commission's statement as reported by the Irish Examiner.

  • irishexaminer.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In a statement, the Electoral Commission said it became aware of the AI-generated video on Tuesday evening.'; '“Using pre-agreed communications channels with platforms, we escalated the issue immediately to flag these videos with a request that they be urgently reviewed, and I understand that the relevant accounts have since been suspended,” a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said.'; 'However, the spokesperson said that powers that would allow the Electoral Commission to use strong powers to compel social media firms to remove disinformation impacting elections have not yet commenced.'
Reported Connolly called the video a fabrication and a disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine democracy, and her campaign reported it to the platforms and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission.

Causal attribution. Connolly's statement and her campaign's account, relayed by four outlets (one origin).

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission over a "malicious deep-fake" AI video.'; 'Connolly called the video a "disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine our democracy".'; 'Connolly's campaign team said they have reported the video to the social media platforms it appeared on.'
  • irishtimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“The video is a fabrication. It is a disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine our democracy. I will not be distracted.'
  • thejournal.ie(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Her campaign has reported the footage to social media platforms and filed a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission, requesting its removal and clear labelling as fake.'
  • irishexaminer.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Her campaign confirmed they had reported the video to social media platforms on which it appeared, while also lodging a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission.'
Reported Meta removed the Facebook account RTÉ News AI that posted the video, saying it does not allow content that impersonates or falsely represents people or organisations; the video had been live for almost 12 hours.

Causal attribution. Meta's confirmation as reported by The Irish Times; the Irish Examiner reports the removal as following concerns raised by the Electoral Commission.

  • irishtimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The video was posted to an account called RTÉ News AI.'; 'It was live for almost 12 hours and had been shared nearly 200 times before it was removed.'; 'Meta, which owns Facebook, removed the RTÉ News AI account on Wednesday after being contacted by the Irish Independent.'; 'The company said it does not allow content that impersonates or falsely represents people, brands, businesses or organisations.'
  • irishexaminer.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The video was circulated on social media platforms overnight, being seen tens of thousands of times on both Facebook and X. It has since been removed by Meta, after concerns were raised by the Electoral Commission.'; 'The video itself was first posted to Facebook by an account named RTÉ News AI, which has since been suspended. However, despite it being removed by Meta, the video can still be viewed on X.'
Reported YouTube removed the video and the channel it was uploaded to.

Causal attribution. TheJournal.ie's report of YouTube's confirmation.

  • thejournal.ie(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The video, created using artificial intelligence tools, was viewed more than 160,000 times on Facebook before being taken down. It has also been removed from YouTube, who also removed the channel it was uploaded to.'; 'In a statement this evening confirming that the video had been taken down, a spokesperson for YouTube said:'
Reported Coimisiún na Meán contacted the platform concerned about the measures taken and reminded it of its Digital Services Act obligations on election integrity.

Causal attribution. The regulator's spokesman as quoted by The Irish Times.

  • irishtimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“An Coimisiún have contacted the platform concerned to understand the immediate measures they have taken in response to this incident and have reminded the platform of their obligations under the EU Digital Services Act relating to protecting the integrity of elections,” a spokesman said.'

Sources

4 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

English original read in full; no translation. Applies to s1, s2, s3, s4.

Event countries: Ireland. Affected-person countries: Ireland. Court countries: Unknown.

The video concerned Ireland's presidential election, mimicked RTÉ News, and was reported to Ireland's Electoral Commission and removed by platforms at Irish authorities' request (Irish Examiner; The Irish Times). The candidate was standing for the Irish presidency. No court is involved. Where the video was made is unknown.

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-02: Published because an examiner consulted by BBC Verify described visual signs of AI generation and the Electoral Commission called it an AI-generated video, and the depicted candidate called it a fabrication and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission.

People described

An independent candidate in Ireland's 2025 presidential election, shown in a fabricated news video announcing a withdrawal she never made

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person: the presidential candidate shown announcing a withdrawal she never made, who called the video a fabrication and lodged a formal complaint with the Electoral Commission (BBC, The Irish Times, TheJournal.ie, Irish Examiner). The two RTÉ journalists also shown are not counted because no response from them is reported; viewers and voters are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfake#election#news-impersonation#electoral-commission#meta

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). AI video mimicking an RTÉ bulletin falsely showed Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly quitting; she complained to the Electoral Commission. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-ireland-ai-deepfake-news-video-falsely-showed-presidential-candidate-withdrawing-complaint-to-electoral-commission

BibTeX

@misc{2025_ireland_ai_deepfake_news_video_falsely_showed_presidential_candidate_withdrawing_complaint_to_electoral_commission,
  title = {AI video mimicking an RTÉ bulletin falsely showed Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly quitting; she complained to the Electoral Commission},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-ireland-ai-deepfake-news-video-falsely-showed-presidential-candidate-withdrawing-complaint-to-electoral-commission}
}

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