New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Deepfake Atmospheres and Digital Crowds

It has not been a good year for crowds. Around the globe, concert halls are silent; stadia, empty. The decibel level of humanity is very likely at a century low. Throughout the world televised sports—a commercial enterprise for whom...

By on 12/04/20 Comments Off

Can you change the world with a homemade DeepFake?

Kenza Sabri (kenzasabri5@gmail.com) Zuzanna Kędzia (zuzanna.k0987@gmail.com) Daria Kochetkova (daria.kochetkova.08@gmail.com) “At the most basic level, deepfakes are lies disguised to look like truth. If we take them as truth or evidence, we can easily make false conclusions with potentially disastrous...

By Kenza Sabri on 10/21/20 Comments Off

Fawkes: “Cloaking” Your Photos to Elude Facial Recognition Systems

For too long we have lived under the fear brought by the deepfake. In that case, it’s time for us to meet the photo-editing tool, Fawkes. Since the deepfake is generally based on images, Fawkes can fool the AI...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

The Liar’s Dividend: dismissing reality as fake

From face swapping applications to uncanny videos of politicians, everybody has, knowingly or unknowingly, seen a fake video. They are ubiquitous and they are becoming increasingly more realistic, which makes them harder to identify as ‘fake’. This poses a...

By on 09/27/20 Comments Off

Pay or you are a porn star: The problem with RansomFakes

When in the beginning of 2017 deep fakes of politicians arose, people assumed that the new technology would be a threat to democracy. In a world in which we believe everything we see, the Katie Hill scandal has shown...

By Yentel Boot on 09/24/20 Comments Off

The Worrisome Biometrics: Deepfakes, ZAO and Privacy Issue

In early September, a face-swapping app called ZAO attracted universal attention in China. Using the technology of “Deepfakes”, it allows users to swap their faces into famous characters’ in the film and TV show clips. ZAO prevailed like the...

By on 09/22/19 Comments Off

Deepfakes, Privacy Paradoxes and Black Boxes

“I do worry about my privacy,” Huang said. “Because no one cares about my data when I’m a nobody. But if people think they can make money from my information, it makes me worry about the security of my...

By on 09/22/19 Comments Off

Deepfake technology: a paradox of economic and political possibilities

Abstract: Nowadays, deepfake technology seems to be a trending debate in not only media academia but also the social world. The discussions encompass many economic and political concerns that perhaps become prerequisites of further research in disinformation, misinformation and...

By Lei Ding on 09/22/19 Comments Off

Game of Fakes: An Entertaining Approach to Analyzing How Awareness of Fake News Affects Trust in News Media

‘Fake news’: to Donald Trump, it’s a well-loved, catch-all phrase for the mainstream news media, but to scholars and politicians, it’s a trend of great concern. Fake news, and dis-, mis-, and mal-information is becoming harder for the average...

By Emma Knight on 10/20/18 Comments Off