---
title: "Someone Used Deepfake Tech to Invent a Fake Journalist"
description: "Someone has used deepfake technology to create fake journalist Oliver Taylor, whose work was published in several international newspapers."
date: "2020-07-15"
modified: "2020-07-21"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-fake-journalist"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "ai"
  - "deepfake"
  - "journalist"
  - "the digest"
---

# Someone Used Deepfake Tech to Invent a Fake Journalist

![Someone found a new way to use deepfakes to spread disinformation online: using the tech to make up a fake journalist from scratch.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/deepfakes-invent-fake-journalist.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Cyabra\</em\>*

## Fake News

*Reuters* [reports that](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-deepfake-activist-idUSKCN24G15E>) somebody used deepfake tech and a false name and biography to invent the persona of a journalist — and then got the sock puppet's work published in several international newspapers.

Whoever's behind the operation — *Reuters* was not able to track them down — managed to publish six articles and editorials in the *Jerusalem Post* and the *Times of Israel* while posting as an entirely fictitious author, according to the investigation. The dupe serves as a warning about how [easily disinformation can spread](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-ai-director-deepfake-protections>) online — and how new tech can enable it.

According to online profiles, Oliver Taylor is a student at the University of Birmingham who loves politics and coffee. But no actual records of Taylor exist, his phone number isn't connected, and neither *Reuters* nor the publications that ran his work could verify his existence.

## Face Case

And then there's his headshot. Multiple experts told *Reuters* that Taylor's supposed photo is almost certainly a forgery, seemingly generated by the same neural network tech behind websites like "[thispersondoesnotexist.com](<https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/>)."

Deepfake artist Mario Klinkemann told *Reuters* that Taylor's picture "has all the hallmarks" of a deepfake.

"I'm 100 percent sure," he said.

## New Trend

It's not unprecedented for propagandists to invent personas for journalists. Earlier this month, for instance, an [investigation by *The Daily Beast*](<https://www.thedailybeast.com/right-wing-media-outlets-duped-by-a-middle-east-propaganda-campaign>) found a network of 19 fake journalists that had been used to publish political content in a wide variety of conservative publications — including several that appeared to have used deepfake tech.

The *Jerusalem Post* told *Reuters* that editors didn't vette Taylor very hard. And while his articles didn't gain much traction, the phenomenon points to a looming threat in which operators could hide behind deepfake technology while publishing disinformation in reputable outlets.

"Absolutely we need to screen out impostors and up our defenses," *Times of Israel* Opinion Editor Miriam Herschlag told *Reuters*. "But I don’t want to set up these barriers that prevent new voices from being heard."

**READ MORE:** [Deepfake used to attack activist couple shows new disinformation frontier](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-deepfake-activist-idUSKCN24G15E>) \[*Reuters*\]

**More on deepfakes:** *[Expert: Online Disinfo Now Targeting COVID-19, Black Lives Matter](<https://futurism.com/expert-online-disinfo-covid-black-lives-matter>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)