‘Beware of manipulated, fake medical endorsement video’

 

MANILA, Philippines —The health department on Sunday enjoined netizens to be more discerning of online videos circulating on social media offering a new cure for various ailments.

This call comes as a video surfaced on Facebook claiming the discovery of a new cure for prostate-related issues.

The video, which has already garnered some 2,600 likes and 270 shares as of posting time, uses the image, likeness, and voice of Inquirer.net’s news anchor, Neil Mercado.

“The DOH strongly condemns the spread of false information that uses ‘deep fake’ to impersonate the voice and appearance of legitimate journalists as well as experts,” Department of Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo told Inquirer.net.

“Let’s always be critical and only open legitimate DOH pages and news outlets,” he added.

In the video, Mercado can be heard saying that former vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong is offering to pay P1 million to anyone whose prostate he can’t cure with the new unnamed drug.

However, in a post on X, Mercado clarified that the video is manipulated using Artificial Intelligence and is being used to spread disinformation.

The news anchor’s lips are noticeably not synchronized with the words he is supposedly saying, indicating signs of manipulation using deep fake technology.

Mercado called on netizens to report the manipulated video which may be accessed through this link.

This is not the first time that news anchors and celebrities have been used in doctored videos to promote products.

To learn how to detect deep faked videos, check out this Inquirer report.