Foreign states using AI videos to undermine support for Ukraine, says Yvette Cooper | Foreign policy
Foreign countries are flooding social media with AI-manipulated videos to undermine Western support for Ukraine, Yvette Cooper will warn on Tuesday.
Britain’s foreign secretary will call on other countries to help Britain fight what he calls “information warfare”, as officials warn that Russia is using forged documents and deepfakes to advance its geopolitical aims.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously warned Russian agencies operate a vast disinformation network known as DoppelgängerSpreading false rumors about issues such as the health of the Princess of Wales and western financing of Israel.
“Across Europe, we are witnessing a rise in hybrid threats, from physical to cyber, designed to weaken critical national infrastructure, undermine our interests, and interfere with our democracies for the benefit of malevolent foreign states,” Cooper will say.
The speech, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Locarno agreements signed between England, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Czechoslovakia after the First World War, coincides with one of the most sensitive moments of the Ukrainian war.
As Donald Trump puts renewed pressure on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, both sides are struggling to shape Washington’s thinking.
US and Ukrainian officials have spent the past few days locked in talks with no visible progress, prompting Trump to accuse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not reading the proposals on the table.
Zelenskyy spent Monday in Downing Street; Here Keir Starmer held meetings including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Cooper spent Monday in Washington, where he met with U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio.
In statements apparently aimed at Moscow, Cooper will say: “A hundred years ago, such malicious actors or state-sponsored separatists might have relied on expertly crafted forged documents or carefully crafted stories to manipulate public opinion, but today’s technology is lowering the barrier to entry, meaning more actors with less skill can work on behalf of regimes abroad.
“By interfering with free and fair elections, they can undermine Western interests and lose allies on the global stage. By flooding social media with prolific AI and manipulated videos, they can slowly weaken support for major allies like Ukraine with lies and undermine our collective resolve to support Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s illegal occupation.”
He will say that disinformation is being used not only to directly undermine Ukraine, but also to worsen social divisions on issues such as gender and immigration.
“This is not about legitimate debates on contentious issues. Many people in the UK have strong views on immigration, gender and climate. But these are our debates, not foreign states using them as a playground to sow division to advance their own interests.”
Officials point to disinformation campaigns they say are being carried out by hostile states around the world.
This includes creating fake websites During the Moldovan elections These allegations in September appeared to belong to the PAS party and included fabricated policies such as increasing the retirement age and extending the duration of military service.
