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The Guardian — Technology · September 13, 2026

Deepfakes are wrecking influencers’ credibility, one fake ad at a time

MarketingCommunicationsIntellectual Property Law
THE AI ANGLE
Generating unauthorized deepfakes of influencer likenesses for fraudulent advertising

Generative AI is enabling bad actors and brands to scrape creators' extensive online footprints and deploy unauthorized, synthetic likenesses in commercial ads and scams across social platforms. This widespread impersonation damages creator credibility, threatens the foundational trust of the influencer marketing model, and leaves individuals with limited, costly legal recourse against rapid digital identity theft.

THE TEACHING ANGLE
Students can examine the legal and communicative tensions surrounding the right of publicity, exploring whether existing intellectual property frameworks and platform takedown mechanisms are adequate to protect an individual's commercial likeness from generative AI exploitation.

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