Recently, a series of fixed ads has popped up on the right side of my YouTube screen. They show obviously AI generated fake news stories of noted liberals getting caught in shocking scandals. I first noticed this phenomenon last year when ads targeting celebrity chef Mary Berg circulated on Twitter. Whenever an ad appears in a video I can block or report it and it disappears, but these remain at the side of my screen regardless of what I do, attesting to their dominance on the YouTube platform.
First, let's look at the most recent one showing former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh looking down as two police seem to perp walk him.
The paratext states, "It's trending nationwide... An unexpected situation drew national attention." This is a call to attention or outrage bait, designed to make the reader curious. The ad doubles down on this open appeal with a caption, "Everyone heard what Jagmeet Sing's said off the record" (sic).
If anything, from the grammatical irregularities, such as the misspelling of Singh's last name and addition of an uneccesary apostrophe in an awkward phrase implies either AI or a writer unfamiliar with English conventions. Although the provenance of the ad is unverifiable, if anything, the appeal to attention echoes the Hindustan Times' criticism of Singh for supposed ani-India rhetoric, and may indicate a foreign influence.
The irony in criticizing Singh for an overheard indiscretion is that such 'hot mic' moments usually happen to right wing politicians, as when Jacques Parizeau famously blamed immigrants and middle easterners and scuttled the chances of Quebec separatism in the mid 1990s.
Next, I also received this ad featuring prime minister Mark Carney last week.
The caption is in French this time, noting "Des actifs reels pour des temps changeants... Gerer vos investissements directement a partir de votre telephone portable." This is an appeal to efficiency, "Real actions for changing time... Manage your investments directly by your smart phone." The picture shows the country's leader with arms outstretched welcoming readers while the signs of Canada's major banks are in the background. This seems to be aimed at older Canadians with savings, specifically French speaking, by the outdated phrase 'telephone portable.' The paratext is translated as "Limited number of places... The report contains useful information," the reference to 'limited places' intending to cause readers to hurry to clock the link, while reassuring them of the validity of the information with the word 'report.'
Obviously, both these ads seem suspicious to most viewers, there is always a portion of the population that will take them as legitimate, believing the implied political scandal of the first ad, and trusting their finances to urgent promise of the second.
As Canada's Cyber Centre reports, 'state adversaries' are attempting to disrupt Canada and divide its populace, through Cybercrime-as-a-Service and ransomware that would be downloaded via unsafe links.
But the most dangerous aspect of these ads to me is that they are both brazen in their use of falsehoods and there seems to be no way to block or report them reliably. Canada needs to step up its cyber security response, and blocking such ads, and banning the services that host them, from Canadian internet access.
Sources
HT News Desk. (Oct 16, 2024)"Jagmeet Singh mocked after making anti-India remarks; reporters laugh as he exits, ‘that’s not how it works'" Hindustan Times.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/jagmeet-singh-mocked-after-making-anti-india-remarks-reporters-laugh-as-he-exits-that-s-not-how-it-works-101729048721832.html
