We need not envision a world where deepfakes can convincingly replicate the voices of politicians to fabricate scandals that might influence elections. This reality is already upon us. Nonetheless, there are several reasons for optimism regarding society’s capacity to detect counterfeit media and uphold a collective comprehension of current affairs.
While prospects for the future appear promising, concerns linger about the past. History serves as a potent instrument for manipulation and misconduct. The same generative A.I. technology capable of falsifying present-day events can also distort historical occurrences. Despite the implementation of safeguard mechanisms for new content, a vast reservoir of unwatermarked historical content remains. Watermarking involves embedding imperceptible data into digital files to trace their origins. Once watermarking becomes standard practice during content creation and individuals grow accustomed to distrusting non-watermarked content, everything predating this shift could face heightened scrutiny.
This scenario presents a myriad of opportunities for substantiating false assertions with fabricated documents, such as photos placing historical figures in compromising scenarios, altering narratives in historical newspapers, or modifying names on property deeds. Although these deceptive tactics have historical precedents, combating them becomes significantly more challenging as the cost of producing nearly flawless forgeries diminishes.
This projection draws from historical instances where economic and political authorities manipulated historical records for their benefit. For instance, Stalin eliminated disloyal associates from historical accounts through executions, followed by the alteration of photographic evidence to erase any trace of their existence. Similarly, upon gaining independence in 1992, Slovenia expunged over 18,000 individuals from the residents’ registry, primarily targeting members of the Roma minority and other non-Slovene ethnic groups. The government even destroyed their physical records, resulting in their displacement from homes, loss of pensions, and denial of essential services, as documented in a 2003 report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
Fabricated documents play a pivotal role in revising historical narratives. The notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion, initially published in a Russian newspaper in 1903, purported to unveil a Jewish conspiracy for global domination. Despite being debunked as a forgery in August 1921, plagiarized from disparate sources, the Protocols persisted in Nazi propaganda and continue to fuel antisemitic violence, notably referenced in Article 32 of Hamas’s 1988 founding Covenant.
In a similar vein, the Zinoviev Letter of 1924, a clandestine communication allegedly from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain, was disclosed by The Daily Mail just days before a general election. The ensuing scandal potentially swayed the election outcome against the Labour Party. Although the letter’s authenticity remains unverified, suspicions arose at the time, and a subsequent investigation in the 1990s suggested that it likely originated from White Russians—a conservative political faction led by Russian exiles opposed to the Communist regime.
