Hundreds of deepfake music videos are celebrating the president of Burkina Faso… why?
Social media has been flooded with a wave of music videos of stars like Justin Bieber, Beyoncé and R. Kelly singing the glory of the President of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traoré, since early May. Turns out, all these videos are deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence. Experts say that the mass publication of these fake videos is part of an effort to raise the president's profile abroad.
What do Beyoncé, Rihanna, R. Kelly, Selena Gomez and Eminem have in common -- besides being world famous singers? They also all appear to have recorded a version of a banger called 'God Protect Ibrahim Traoré' and posted it on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. It is an ode to the glory of the president of Burkina Faso, who came to power in a coup d'état in September 2022.
As gospel music plays in the background, the music video shows the president of Burkina Faso comforting a wounded man and being cheered on by a crowd of kids.
'God protect Ibrahim Traoré, stand him in your grace, give him wisdom, give him strength to lead this fragile place,' go the lyrics in the version supposedly featuring American singer R. Kelly. R. Kelly can be seen riding a motorcycle as a burst of gunfire explodes behind him. The song goes on to refer to the Islamist insurrection affecting both Burkina Faso and other countries in the Sahel:
Jihadist storms have raged too long
Displacing hearts and homes
Oh Lord, we need your justice now
Read more on The Observers - France 24Read also:Kylian Mbappé 'disciplined' by his father? An example of the dangers of 'deepfakes'How to detect 'deepfakes'
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