Young hot Marine Le Pen isn’t real but she can hurt you
“Proud to look like her,” writes the TikToker who shares the same facial features as far-right figure Marine Le Pen to her 30,000 followers. She presents herself as Le Pen’s niece. But ‘Amandine Le Pen’ exists only as a deep fake – Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that enables users to create videos imitating anyone with face-swapping techniques.
Her account, along with that of Léna Maréchal, another fictitious attractive young woman supporting the far-right party Rassemblement National, has been banned. Both their accounts were connected to a donation page.
While the political party denied any involvement, it cannot deny playing the TikTok game. The far-right party is actually thriving on the app, with Jordan Bardella, its 28 year-old leader, amassing more than one million followers. He is the third most followed French politician after Emmanuel Macron and left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The TikTok tactic is also popular in the rest of Europe, reaching teenagers and young adults. The far-right group Identity and Democracy (ID) has garnered more likes than any other group in the European Parliament and is notably more active on TikTok, as are its members individually.
Whether the fake influencers will affect the European elections remains to be seen. While 30% of people between the ages 18 and 24 say they will be voting in the June elections, many of them follow the account for the ‘clashes’ rather than the politics.
Yet, surveys indicate growing support for far-right ideas among Italian, French, and Dutch youth. And let’s not forget that in Germany, Malta, Austria and Belgium, 16-year-olds will be eligible to vote in the European elections. This makes the use of TikTok, AI, and fake hot Marine Le Pen during a political campaign a crucial development.