Video of Pelosi brings renewed attention to ‘cheapfakes’

The issue of misleading political messages on social media arose again last week, when President Trump tweeted out an edited video showing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi repeatedly tearing up his State of the Union speech as he honored audience members and showed a military family reuniting. Pelosi did tear the pages of her copy of the speech — but only after it was finished, and not throughout the address as the video depicts.

Pelosi’s office asked Twitter and Facebook to take down the video, which both sites have declined to do. Researchers worry the video’s “selective editing” could mislead people if social media companies don’t step in and properly label or regulate similar videos. And with the proliferation of smartphones equipped with easy editing tools, the altered videos are simple to make and could multiply as the election approaches. […]

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