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Low reported severity

Mississippi Senate candidate posted undisclosed AI video of Sen. Hyde-Smith fleeing reporters; her campaign objected and state GOP sought an AG investigation

In early October 2026 the campaign of Scott Colom, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi, posted on social media a 19-second AI-generated video showing a woman made to look like his opponent, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, running from a crowd of reporters at the U.S. Capitol and getting into a car. Local outlets report that the post called it "based on a true story" and did not disclose that it was made with AI. Hyde-Smith's campaign manager called it an AI video and part of a campaign of "lies and deception". On 22 October the Mississippi Republican Party asked the state Attorney General to investigate whether the video broke a state law against knowingly spreading a deceptive AI depiction of a candidate within 90 days of an election, and to seek an injunction. Colom's campaign manager defended the campaign's use of AI and called the complaint desperate; the law exempts satire and parody, and the Attorney General had not ruled when the sources were read.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
1 Oct 2026
Reported
6 October 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Elections · Public life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts
5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Unnamed AI video generator used by the Colom campaign to produce a 19-second video of a likeness of the senator (as described by Mississippi outlets)

What Happened

The video. The Mississippi Free Press reports that the ad "features an AI-generated Hyde-Smith being confronted by reporters, covering her face with a folder and running through the halls of the U.S. Capitol building to avoid questions." It adds: "The ad claims the depiction is “based on a true story,” but does not disclose it was created using AI." Magnolia Tribune describes "An AI generated video shared by Colom on his social media platforms" showing "images of a woman generated to look like Hyde-Smith". The state Republican Party's release, printed by WXXV, says the campaign posted it on 1 October 2026 to Facebook and Instagram; the Mississippi Free Press says it came 33 days before the 3 November election.

The depicted senator's response. Magnolia Tribune quotes Hyde-Smith's campaign manager on 6 October: "Desperate candidates deploy desperate tactics." and "Colom’s unserious campaign is just a mashup of lies and deception, and this AI video is no different."

The complaint. According to the Mississippi Free Press, the state party chairman asked the Attorney General in an Oct. 22 letter to investigate whether Colom broke Mississippi Code § 97-13-47, which makes it a crime to knowingly disseminate a deceptive AI-generated digitization of a candidate within 90 days of an election, and to seek injunctive relief against further use of the video or similar content. The chairman argues the video is neither satire nor parody.

The campaign's response. The Mississippi Free Press reports that Colom's campaign manager "defended the campaign’s use of AI to generate the video of Hyde-Smith in an Oct. 22 statement", calling the complaint "an act of desperation" and writing "Clearly this is a joke". On 8 October, speaking of the senator, Colom said: "I’m portraying a true story." The newspaper notes that the law's exemption for satire or parody "could apply to Colom’s AI-generated video of Hyde-Smith running from reporters", and that "Fitch will have to determine whether" it broke the law. The video appears to refer to a real September encounter in which the senator declined a hallway interview with a reporter.

Limits. The video itself and the party's letter were not inspected; the descriptions come from the outlets. No source names the AI tool. Whether the video was removed and how the Attorney General responded were not reported when the sources were read on 23 October 2026.

Reported harm

A senator was shown in fabricated conduct in an undisclosed AI-generated campaign video posted by her opponent's campaign weeks before an election; her campaign objected and her party sought an Attorney General investigation (reported).

Outcome

Ongoing

On 22 October 2026 the Mississippi Republican Party asked Attorney General Lynn Fitch to investigate under Mississippi Code 97-13-47 and to seek an injunction. Colom's campaign called the complaint desperate and defended the video. No decision by the Attorney General was reported when the sources were read on 23 October 2026.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool generated the video.
  • How the Attorney General responds to the complaint.
  • Whether the video was removed or relabelled after the complaint.
  • How many people viewed the video.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The outlets describe the campaign's video as AI-generated, showing a woman generated to look like the senator running from reporters, and the Mississippi Free Press reports that Colom's campaign manager defended the campaign's use of AI to generate it. The AI-generated likeness is the material the senator's campaign objected to and the subject of the party's complaint to the Attorney General. The generating tool is not named.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Scott Colom's campaign posted on social media an AI-generated video, about 19 seconds long, showing a woman made to look like Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith confronted by reporters and running away at the U.S. Capitol; the post called it based on a true story and did not disclose that it was made with AI.

Causal attribution. Description of the video by outlets that reported on it; the AI generation is also accepted by the campaign's defence of its use of AI (c4). The tool is not named.

  • mississippifreepress.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The ad claims the depiction is “based on a true story,” but does not disclose it was created using AI.'
  • magnoliatribune.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'An AI generated video shared by Colom on his social media platforms shows images of a woman generated to look like Hyde-Smith exiting what is assumed to be the U.S. Capitol.'
  • magnoliatribune.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'a 19-second AI video depicting Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith fleeing reporters'; 'At no point does the ad disclose that it was generated using AI.'
Reported The state Republican Party's release says the campaign posted the video on 1 October 2026 to Facebook and Instagram; the Mississippi Free Press says it came 33 days before the 3 November election.

Causal attribution. Date as stated by the party release and consistent with the newspaper's count of days.

Reported Hyde-Smith's campaign manager objected to the video, calling it an AI video and part of a campaign of lies and deception.

Causal attribution. The depicted senator's campaign's own response, quoted by Magnolia Tribune.

Reported On 22 October 2026 the Mississippi Republican Party asked the state Attorney General to investigate whether the video violated Mississippi Code 97-13-47 and to seek an injunction; Colom's campaign manager defended the campaign's use of AI to generate the video, called the complaint an act of desperation and wrote "Clearly this is a joke".

Causal attribution. The complaint's legal theory is the party's allegation; no authority has found a violation.

  • mississippifreepress.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The Mississippi Republican Party asked Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch in an Oct. 22 letter to investigate whether'; 'Colom’s campaign manager Gerard Henderson defended the campaign’s use of AI to generate the video of Hyde-Smith in an Oct. 22 statement to the Mississippi Free Press.'; 'Clearly this is a joke'
  • magnoliatribune.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The Mississippi Republican Party is asking the Attorney General to investigate and seek injunctive relief over Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom’s use of an AI generated video'
Reported Colom described the video as portraying a true story; the Mississippi Free Press notes that the law's exemption for satire or parody could apply and that the Attorney General will have to determine whether the law was broken.

Causal attribution. Counterevidence and status: the campaign's defence and the newspaper's account of the exemption; the legal question is unresolved.

  • mississippifreepress.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'I’m portraying a true story.'; 'could apply to Colom’s AI-generated video of Hyde-Smith running from reporters'; 'Fitch will have to determine whether'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-23; no translation needed (research agent, an AI). Applies to s1, s2, s3.

Read in English on 2026-10-23; the page prints the state Republican Party's press release. No translation needed (research agent, an AI). Applies to s4.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

The video was posted by a Mississippi U.S. Senate campaign about a sitting U.S. senator, and the complaint went to the Mississippi Attorney General (Mississippi Free Press, Magnolia Tribune). No court is involved.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-23: Published because outlets that reported on the video describe it as an AI-generated depiction of the senator, the maker's campaign defended its use of AI, and the depicted senator's campaign objected while her party filed a complaint with the Attorney General. The illegality claim is attributed to the party, and the campaign's parody and true-story defences are kept.

People described

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, a public figure depicted in fabricated conduct by her election opponent's campaign

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person: the senator depicted in the video, whose campaign objected (Magnolia Tribune, 6 October). Exact 1. Viewers are an audience and are not counted.

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

Tags

#political-deepfake#election#ai-video#mississippi

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Mississippi Senate candidate posted undisclosed AI video of Sen. Hyde-Smith fleeing reporters; her campaign objected and state GOP sought an AG investigation. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-mississippi-senate-candidate-colom-campaign-undisclosed-ai-video-of-sen-hyde-smith-fleeing-reporters-gop-ag-complaint

BibTeX

@misc{2026_mississippi_senate_candidate_colom_campaign_undisclosed_ai_video_of_sen_hyde_smith_fleeing_reporters_gop_ag_complaint,
  title = {Mississippi Senate candidate posted undisclosed AI video of Sen. Hyde-Smith fleeing reporters; her campaign objected and state GOP sought an AG investigation},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-mississippi-senate-candidate-colom-campaign-undisclosed-ai-video-of-sen-hyde-smith-fleeing-reporters-gop-ag-complaint}
}

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