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flag In 2026, professor John Mearsheimer fought to remove AI-generated deepfake videos falsely implicating him in inflammatory geopolitical remarks, exposing flaws in YouTube’s slow takedown system.

flag In 2026, University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer spent months fighting to remove hundreds of AI-generated deepfake videos of himself from YouTube, where fabricated clips falsely portrayed him making inflammatory remarks on U.S.-China and Japan-related geopolitics. flag His office identified 43 channels spreading the fakes, many using slight name changes like "Jhon" to evade detection, and submitted individual takedown requests, only to face a slow, inefficient system requiring identifiable content in titles or descriptions. flag Despite shutting down 41 channels after significant delays, the deepfakes gained traction, highlighting the challenges of combating AI-driven disinformation. flag Mearsheimer and economist Jeffrey Sachs, also targeted, are now launching official channels to counter misinformation, as experts warn that current takedown systems place undue burden on victims and call for safety to be built into platforms by design.

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