{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-02T17:25:27.433Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"wisconsin","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","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":0,"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":"2026-wisconsin-cooke-van-orden-ai-deepfake-videos-cease-and-desist","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Take, for example, the video posted to your X account on August 4, 2026.'; 'in Eau Claire with former President Biden seated behind her.'; 'to take advantage of as much corruption as possible and give every illegal alien free healthcare.'; 'The video is pure fiction. The events depicted did not occur. Ms. Cooke never made the statements attributed to her.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The letter specifically cites an AI video that Derrick Van Orden posted to his X account on Aug. 4, 2026.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A cease-and-desist letter sent on behalf of Cooke for Congress on 30 September 2026 says Van Orden posted to his X account on 4 August 2026 a video purporting to show Cooke speaking on the campaign trail in Eau Claire with former President Biden seated behind her and attributing to her the statement that she seeks to take advantage of as much corruption as possible and give every illegal alien free healthcare; the letter says the events did not occur and she never made the statements.","causal_attribution":"The letter documents the campaign's description and allegation; it is a party's document, and the post itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'has repeatedly used artificial intelligence to post videos to his X account, showing Cooke saying things she never said.'; 'The videos posted to that platform come with an automatic label, indicating that they were made with \"Grok Imagine,\" an AI image and video generator.'; 'Let the peasants eat cake. They will vote for me anyway.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'your pattern of posting misleading AI-generated videos that falsely attribute statements to Ms. Cooke that she did not make'; 'posting myriad such videos.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Van Orden has repeatedly posted AI-generated videos to his X account showing Cooke saying things she never said, including an AI-generated version of her saying 'Let the peasants eat cake. They will vote for me anyway', and the videos carry an automatic label indicating they were made with Grok Imagine.","causal_attribution":"Wisconsin Public Radio's own description of the posts and their platform label, with the campaign letter alleging a pattern; whether the statements are false is the candidate's account."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'for the patently obvious purpose of harming Ms. Cooke’s reputation for your own political advantage'; 'deepfake statute only applies to communications by Wisconsin committees, and thus does not apply to federal candidates.'; 'Wisconsin’s common law of defamation fills the gaps yet remaining in Wisconsin’s statutory protections against fake AI'; 'we will evaluate all legal options to address that misconduct.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The letter alleges the videos are posted for the purpose of harming her reputation for political advantage, says Wisconsin's deepfake statute applies only to communications by Wisconsin committees and not to federal candidates, invokes the common law of defamation, and warns that her lawyers will evaluate all legal options if the conduct persists.","causal_attribution":"The letter establishes what the campaign alleges and threatens; the defamation allegation is untested."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'is instead spending his time and energy producing AI videos putting words in my mouth'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'is instead spending his time and energy producing AI videos putting words in my mouth, pretending that I said things that I didn'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Cooke said in a statement that Van Orden is spending his time and energy producing AI videos putting words in her mouth.","causal_attribution":"The candidate's own statement, issued through her campaign."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Rebecca Cooke has spent six years running for office, lying to voters about who she is and her record'; 'Van Orden responded to the cease-and-desist letter with another Grok-assisted video.'; 'The short clip includes a red AI-generated duck.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Van Orden's campaign said Cooke has spent six years running for office lying to voters about who she is and her record, and Van Orden responded to the letter with another Grok-assisted video in which an AI-generated duck says 'Cease and desist!'.","causal_attribution":"Van Orden's campaign release and posts as reported by WPR; his reported responses do not address whether the attributed statements are fabricated."}],"effects":[{"label":"a congressional candidate was depicted in AI-generated videos posted by her opponent saying things she says she never said","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.wpr.org/news/cooke-cease-and-desist-letter-van-orden-ai-deepfakes","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-02 (Wisconsin Public Radio, Sarah Lehr, published 1 October 2026). Republished by Urban Milwaukee (also read). The description of the X posts and their Grok Imagine label is the reporter's own; the account of the letter derives from the letter.","independence_group":"wpr"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cqk8OPoIGN__tQeSgNPW0RqHYJr82Xuo/view","kind":"legal_letter","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Two-page letter dated 30 September 2026 from Ben Stafford, Elias Law Group, on behalf of Cooke for Congress, linked from the WEAU and Urban Milwaukee articles; downloaded from Google Drive on 2026-10-02 and converted with pdftotext. A party's own document: it establishes what the campaign alleges, not that the allegations are true.","independence_group":"cooke-campaign"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.weau.com/2026/09/30/rebecca-cooke-sends-derrick-van-orden-cease-desist-over-ai-deepfake-videos/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-02 (WEAU Staff, 30 September 2026). Based on the campaign's press release and the letter; Van Orden's statement to WEAU is announced but its text is not in the retrieved page.","independence_group":"cooke-campaign"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["elections","public_life"],"unknowns":["How many such videos were posted and when the first was posted; 4 August 2026 is the earliest specific post in the inspected sources.","Whether every video was made with Grok Imagine, as the platform label reported for the posts indicates, or with other tools.","Van Orden's statement to WEAU, which was not in the retrieved page.","Whether the campaign will pursue a defamation claim or other legal action."],"geography":{"basis":"The videos concern the race for Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, and the 4 August video purports to show the candidate in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (letter, WPR, WEAU). No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated) consistent with 2026-texas-goodwin-ai-deepfake-campaign-ads-sheriff-complaint: a candidate's lawyers' letter, read in full, documents the campaign's allegation that her opponent posted AI-generated videos showing her saying things she never said, and Wisconsin Public Radio describes the posts and their Grok Imagine label. The harm is reputational and electoral and is alleged by the candidate; the opponent's campaign disputes her account of her record.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-02"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The cease-and-desist letter calls the posts AI-generated deepfake videos, and Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the videos posted to X carry an automatic label indicating they were made with Grok Imagine. The response from Van Orden's campaign quoted by WPR does not address whether the videos are AI-generated (his statement to WEAU was not in the retrieved page), and WPR describes his answer to the letter as another Grok-assisted video.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Wisconsin: lawyers for congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke sent Rep. Derrick Van Orden a cease-and-desist letter on 30 September 2026 over AI-generated videos posted on his X account that show her making statements she never made; Wisconsin Public Radio reports the videos carry an automatic label indicating Grok Imagine","summary":"Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic challenger in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, says Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden has repeatedly posted AI-generated videos to his X account that put words in her mouth. A cease-and-desist letter sent on her campaign's behalf on 30 September 2026 by Elias Law Group cites a video posted on 4 August 2026 that purports to show her speaking on the campaign trail in Eau Claire with former President Biden seated behind her and saying she seeks 'to take advantage of as much corruption as possible and give every illegal alien free healthcare'. The letter calls the video 'pure fiction', says she never made the statements, alleges the videos are posted to harm her reputation, and warns that her lawyers will evaluate all legal options. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the videos posted to X carry an automatic label indicating they were made with Grok Imagine, and quotes two other AI-generated lines attributed to her. Van Orden's campaign accused Cooke of lying to voters about her record, and he answered the letter with another AI video of a duck saying 'Cease and desist!'.","incidentDate":"2026-08-04","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-30","aiSystem":"AI-generated videos depicting the candidate, posted on Rep. Van Orden's X account; Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the videos carry an automatic label indicating they were made with Grok Imagine, an AI image and video generator","aiProduct":"Grok Imagine (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A congressional candidate was depicted in AI-generated videos posted by her opponent on X saying things she says she never said; her lawyers' cease-and-desist letter alleges the videos are false and posted to harm her reputation, and the opponent's campaign accuses her of lying about her record.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One depicted person, the candidate on whose behalf the letter was sent. Exact 1. Voters said to be misled are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-WI","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.wpr.org/news/cooke-cease-and-desist-letter-van-orden-ai-deepfakes","primarySourceLabel":"Wisconsin Public Radio, 1 October 2026: Cooke campaign sends cease-and-desist to Congressman Van Orden over AI deepfakes","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-02T03:12:28.898646+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-02T03:12:28.898646+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","political-deepfake","election","wisconsin","grok-imagine","x","cease-and-desist","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}