As farmers across Europe protest against the Mercosur free trade agreement with South America, an increasing number of AI-generated videos of farmers have emerged across social media.
A number of the video captions stipulate that they are AI-generated. Others have the Sora watermark on them, which is Open’s AI image and video generator.
However, these disclaimers risk getting lost when they are reposted by other accounts.
Certain videos display clear AI indicators upon closer inspection. For example, in one video police shields display inconsistencies, as the letter “e” in the word “police” comes in different fonts and sizes.
A string of other videos have specifically imitated French farmers, who as well as being opposed to Mercosur, have been angry at the implementation of culling measures aimed at curbing the spread of lumpy skin disease among cow herds.
Videos surrounding this issue relay emotional testimonies, with one clip showing a farmer upset at the culling of hundreds of cows in the French department of Ariège.
Although the testimony may seem plausible — as a culling operation did take place in December, leading to police intervention after farmers attempted to prevent it — there are clear signs of AI generation. For instance, in the background while the farmer speaks, one cow’s backside transforms into its head.
In another instance a farmer delivers a heartfelt testimony: except he is crying tears which are made of blood that do not roll down his face.
Clicks for cash
The motivation for generating this kind of fake content is often to generate clicks, which can be monetised if the clips go viral.
European farmers’ protests have also been weaponised as part of Russian propaganda operations.
For instance, a doctored Euronews video imitating the channel’s branding and visual identity went viral in early 2024. It showed French farmers spreading manure outside the Ukrainian embassy after a supposed letter from the ambassador urged them to end their protests.
In reality, the footage was not of France’s Ukraine embassy, but of the headquarters of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional council in Dijon — where farmers really did spread manure.
The alleged ambassador’s letter urging farmers to stop protesting was also falsified.
These efforts were part of an attempt by pro-Russian actors to discredit Ukraine, amidst European farmer’s genuine concerns about the introduction of non-European imports into the market.