Halimah Yacob files police report over deepfake criticising government

Singapore's former president Halimah Yacob stated on Tuesday (15 April) that she will be filing a police report after a deepfake video of herself allegedly making negative statements about the government was circulated. 

In a Facebook post, Halimah said that she had never made such a video, noting that even her voice had been incorporated. 

The video's circulation comes as the country prepares for its upcoming general elections (GE). In a statement on Tuesday, the prime minister's office unveiled that president Tharman Shanmugaratnam had dissolved parliament, with Nomination Day set for 23 April.

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"This is scary how AI is being used to influence voters during this critical period," Halimah said. She also urged Singaporeans to maintain decorum, decency and fairness when participating in the election, regardless of their preferred side. 

"Fight on the basis of the strength of your vision and the strength of your candidates and their ability to see that vision through. Don’t resort to dirty tactics like this. After the GE, we still have our people and their future to think of. It’s not a one-off boxing match," she added. 

Halimah did not share the video to avoid its further circulation. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the Elections Department unveiled campaign guidelines for this year's general elections, noting that publishing digitally generated or manipulated online election advertising (OEA) that realistically misrepresents a prospective or nominated candidate’s speech or actions is prohibited during the election period. 

This includes both content created using generative-AI technology, or altered using digital means. Candidates who have been misrepresented by such content may make a request and formal declaration to the Returning Officer to review the content.

“These rules, which will be in place for the first time in GE2025, serve to uphold the truthfulness of representation during an election,” ELD said. 

Halimah isn't the only politician in Singapore to have been a target of deepfake videos in recent times. In June last year, senior minister Lee Hsien Loong warned netizens not to believe a deepfake video of him. In a Facebook post at the time, Lee revealed that there was a deepfake video of him asking viewers to sign up for an investment product that claimed to have guaranteed returns. 

According to Lee, the video mimicked his voice and layered the fake audio over actual footage of the senior minister during last year's National Day Message. The scammers had also synced his mouth movements with the audio, added Lee. "This is extremely worrying: people watching the video may be fooled into thinking that I really said those words," said Lee in the Facebook post. 

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