Deepfake Democracy Group: Defending Trust in the age of AI

This event introduces the Deepfake Democracy Group, an interdisciplinary team of computer sciences, international relations, global political studies, media studies, communications, interaction designers and criminologist at Malmö University that studies how AI-generated synthetic media may inform European and Nordic democracies. Participants will hear inputs on the rapid growth of political deepfakes, why humans detect them only slightly better than chance, and how such content can damage reputations, voting intentions, and trust in news.

The session combines short talks from the research tracks, a moderated panel, and hands-on examples where visitors compare real and synthetic video and discuss how design, policy, and education can strengthen democratic resilience. Students from the Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) “Deepfake Democracy Group” present case studies from Sweden and recent European elections and demonstrate EU policies and prototype detection. The aim is to give attendees a clearer understanding of deepfake threats and an accessible toolkit of questions, practices, and resources they can use in everyday democratic life in Malmö and across the Öresund region.

Further information on the project is available here: Deepfake Democracy Project | Malmö University

This program is part of Democracy Week Malmö connects, held from 12–18th June. The event is free of charge and open to the public. The full program is available here: www.malmo.se/malmomots