{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T02:57:41.425Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"election","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"regulatory","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-uk-fact-checkers-say-video-of-tory-mp-announcing-reform-uk-defection-was-likely-ai-made","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'A video that appears to show Conservative MP George Freeman announcing his defection to Reform UK has been shared widely online.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'In the widely-circulated video, the MP appeared to say \"the time for half measures is over\" and that the \"Conservative party had lost its way\" after announcing he had joined Reform'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A video that appeared to show George Freeman announcing his defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK circulated widely on social media in October 2025.","causal_attribution":"Full Fact's own viewing of the clip and the Local Democracy Reporting Service account are separate origins for the existence and content of the video."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The clip was very likely made using artificial intelligence.'; 'After looking through Mr Freeman’s social media we matched the outfit he is wearing and background in Westminster to a video he posted on YouTube in April 2020'; 'The cadence of the audio in the recent video is extremely even and the intonation sounds stiff and unnatural, which suggests it may be AI-generated. Although less likely, we can’t rule out that it has been faked in another way, for example by using an impersonator.'; 'AI also appears to have been used to make it look as though Mr Freeman is saying the words falsely attributed to him, an example of a lip-sync deepfake.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Full Fact said the clip was very likely made using AI: it matched the outfit and background to a 2020 video, found the audio cadence unnaturally even, and said AI appears to have been used to lip-sync the false words, while it could not rule out an impersonator.","causal_attribution":"The fact-checker's own analysis of the recording; a likelihood assessment, not identification of a tool."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'denouncing the video circulating on social media as \"an AI-generated deepfake\".'; '\"The video is a fabrication, created without my knowledge or consent, and uses my image and voice without permission.'; '\"I have reported this matter to the relevant authorities, and I urge anyone who sees the video to report it immediately rather than share it further.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Freeman called the video an AI-generated deepfake and a fabrication made without his knowledge or consent using his image and voice, and reported it to the authorities.","causal_attribution":"The depicted MP's own statement."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Norfolk Police released a statement to the BBC saying it was contacted on 16 October \"by the office of a Member of Parliament regarding a video circulating on social media\".'; '\"An investigation is under way into the matter, which is being treated as a potential offence under Section 179 of the Online Safety Act 2023 (False Communications).\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Norfolk Police said it was contacted by an MP's office on 16 October 2025 and that an investigation was under way into a potential offence under section 179 of the Online Safety Act 2023 (false communications).","causal_attribution":"Police statement quoted by the BBC."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In October, the Tory MP George Freeman found himself bombarded by messages from friends and colleagues accusing him of betrayal.'; 'Freeman contacted Meta, which owns Facebook. “They said, ‘It doesn’t breach any of our guidelines.’'; 'I didn’t understand what had happened,” he said.'; '“Then I saw the video.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Freeman told the Observer that friends and colleagues sent him messages accusing him of betrayal before he had seen the video, and that Meta told him it did not breach its guidelines.","causal_attribution":"The MP's own account in an interview."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'However, the person who produced it has denied supporting Reform believing \"populism is always dangerous\" and instead said the video was created to show how \"people are incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction\".'; 'The creator added they thought the suggestion creating the video would amount to a criminal offence was \"risible\".'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"An anonymous creator told the Wymondham & Attleborough Mercury the video was made to show that people cannot distinguish fact from fiction, denied supporting Reform, and called the suggestion of a criminal offence risible.","causal_attribution":"An unverified anonymous source quoted by one newspaper; the creator's quoted words do not name a tool."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He also reported the bogus video to the police and found “there’s no law against using somebody’s identity in this way”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'He reported it, but police told him it was not illegal.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"Freeman said he found there was no law against using his identity in this way, and LBC reported that police told him the video was not illegal.","causal_attribution":"The MP's account (Observer) and LBC's unattributed summary; the police decision itself was not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"MP shown in a likely AI-made video announcing a defection he had not made; colleagues accused him of betrayal","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://fullfact.org/politics/fake-video-george-freeman-mp-defection-reform-uk/","kind":"fact_check","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English fact check read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"full-fact"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62e7xz02dpo","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"ldrs-freeman-statement"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpejxk0jpo","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"bbc-norfolk-police-statement"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/deepfakes-are-undermining-faith-in-politics","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"observer-interview"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.wymondhamandattleboroughmercury.co.uk/news/25555883.creator-fake-norfolk-mp-reform-defection-video-speaks/","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"mercury-creator-interview"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/deepfake-videos-ai-politician-george-freeman-5HjdW4w_2/","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article read in full on 2026-10-31 and re-read on 2026-11-01; no translation.","independence_group":"lbc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["elections","public_life"],"unknowns":["Who made the video and which tool was used; the anonymous creator's account is unverified.","How widely the video was shared and whether it was removed.","The exact date the video was first posted.","The formal outcome of the police investigation beyond the reported statement that it was not illegal."],"geography":{"basis":"The video depicts the MP for Mid Norfolk announcing a change of UK party, the messages he described came from friends and colleagues, and Norfolk Police investigated (BBC, Observer). Where the video was made or first posted is not stated. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because a fact-checker analysed the clip and judged it very likely AI-made, and the MP shown reported it to police and described being accused of betrayal. The AI assessment is stated as Full Fact's likelihood judgement.","reviewed_on":"2026-11-01"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Full Fact analysed the clip: it matched the footage to a video the MP posted in April 2020, found the audio cadence unnaturally even and said AI appears to have been used to lip-sync the false words, so the clip was very likely made using AI; it could not rule out an impersonator. The fabricated likeness is what was published about the MP, who reported it to police and described accusations of betrayal. The tool and the maker are not identified.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Fact-checker Full Fact says a video of Tory MP George Freeman announcing a defection to Reform UK was likely AI-made; he reported it to police","summary":"In October 2025 a video spread on Facebook and X that appeared to show George Freeman, the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk and a former science minister, announcing that he was leaving the Conservatives to join Reform UK. Full Fact said on 20 October that the clip was very likely made using artificial intelligence: it matched his outfit and the Westminster background to a video he posted in April 2020, described the audio as stiff and unnaturally even, and said AI appeared to have been used to lip-sync the false words, while noting that an impersonator could not be ruled out. Freeman called the video an AI-generated deepfake made without his knowledge or consent and reported it to police. Norfolk Police said it was contacted on 16 October by the office of an MP about the video and opened an investigation into a potential false-communications offence. Freeman later told the Observer that friends and colleagues had sent him messages accusing him of betrayal, that Meta told him the video did not breach its guidelines, and that he found no law against the use of his identity; LBC reported in March 2026 that police told him it was not illegal. An anonymous creator told a local newspaper the video was made to show that people cannot tell fact from fiction.","incidentDate":"2025-10-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-10-18","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI tool used, according to Full Fact's analysis, to lip-sync fabricated words and audio onto 2020 footage of a UK MP","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool (suspected)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"An MP was shown in a fabricated video, assessed by Full Fact as very likely AI-made, announcing a defection he had not made; he reported it to police and said friends and colleagues sent him messages accusing him of betrayal (reported).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the MP shown in the video, who denounced it, reported it to police and told the Observer that friends and colleagues sent him messages accusing him of betrayal. Viewers and sharers are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://fullfact.org/politics/fake-video-george-freeman-mp-defection-reform-uk/","primarySourceLabel":"Full Fact, 20 October 2025: video of George Freeman MP announcing defection to Reform UK is fake","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-31T03:05:52.978562+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-11-01T03:00:26.067788+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["political-deepfake","ai-video","fact-check","depicted-or-impersonated","police-report"]}]}