“It is probable at the end of the 20th century to programme a machine to answer questions in such a way that it will be extremely difficult to guess whether the answers are being given by a man or by the machine.” – Alan Turing

Several years ago, a video circulated online of the previous Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, speaking Mandarin. It was later discovered that the video was false but by then the message had somewhat achieved its agenda.

Many who watched the video believed that Jokowi, as he is often known, could speak the language. AFP Indonesia reported that the doctored video was widely viewed more than two million times.

Separately, a video emerged of British footballer David Beckham speaking in nine languages for a malaria awareness campaign. While it spooked many who watched Beckham switching languages, it was intended to educate the public on the disease.

One video was made to deceive, the other to educate, but both messages were delivered.

Deepfakes

These examples illustrate the rise of deepfake, a form of digital forgery that has spread in recent years, using synthetic media technology to mimic a person’s face and voice.

Synthetic media are basically content in any form, be it visual- or audio-generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Deepfake, a form of synthetic media, has emerged to be a further advanced version of disinformation; deliberate and harmful information to cause harm.

Journalists are no strangers to falsehoods, yet, deepfake represents a profound challenge in journalistic normative verification practice due to its complexity.

Deepfakes can be weaponised to mislead, as in Jokowi’s case, or harmless but beneficial, as exemplified in Beckham’s video campaign.

In October 2025, the Malaysian National News Agency, BERNAMA, reported that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the regulatory body that monitors the communication and multimedia content in Malaysia, had removed more than 2,000 deepfake content over a three-year period. While this number over a three-year period may not seem alarming, the repercussions are nonetheless detrimental.

In 2024, Saifuddin Ahmed and colleagues published a study on eight countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, that demonstrated that people who rely on social media for news are found to be more susceptible to deepfakes.

The study further found that those previously exposed were more likely to perceive wrongful information as accurate than those exposed to deepfake contents for the first time.

This situation demonstrates the possible disruption of the information ecosystem by digital forgeries. It demands journalists to strengthen verification in newsrooms.

Deepfake is merely an example of many other digital forgeries challenging journalism.

Defenders of truth

Advancement in AI, complexity with synthetic media and disinformation will continue to challenge human logic and journalists must be the frontline gatekeepers for society. It is a civic duty of journalists to be the defenders of truth.

To do so, this article suggests two interconnected factors.

Firstly, journalists themselves must be media literate and ethical in their practice to curb digital forgeries. They ought to be quick and skilled at identifying falsehoods through verification methods practised in the newsroom.

Media literacy among journalists is crucial and must be beyond the technical comprehension of identifying which tools or apps to be used in the newsrooms.

Journalists should understand the basics of how falsehood proliferates, and the mechanisms to the operationalisation of digital technologies impacting journalism.

Those working in the newsroom should have the ontological knowledge of technology impacting the journalism industry to fully grasp its operations and address its challenges.

Ontologically-informed journalists are in a better position to navigate the technology adopted in their industry.

This means media-literate journalists should know the mechanisation behind platform logics such as algorithms and how they drive audience reach and engagement, or how certain topics become trendy.

This means journalists cannot merely ride on various AI tools that enhance their journalistic piece, but must know how the technology is designed and the intentions that shape them.

A better informed, deeply-educated journalist reduces the possibility of disinformation disseminated in the broader information ecosystem.

Secondly, journalists ought to work with the public to curb disinformation, and this can be achieved through their role as advocates of media literacy for the wider public.

Journalists have a civic duty to help build societal resilience against digital forgeries, and that begins with educating the public.

Students from schools to universities must be able to discern correct and fake news themselves. The public should have an awareness on how platforms push information to them.

Community-led initiatives and civil society organisations are influential groups that can help the public grasp better understanding of digital forgeries and disinformation.

News outlets can collaborate with these groups to conduct fact-checking workshops and media literacy sessions which would then empower the public to fact-check themselves.

Advocates of change

Empowered citizens may become advocates of change as in the case of a successful grassroot movement in Indonesia.

Masyarakat Anti-Fitnah Indonesia (MAFINDO) is a network of community fact-checkers from various social backgrounds, including journalists, that operates in cities and provinces across Indonesia to aid proliferation of hoax news and increase digital literacy.

Unlike other fact-checking outlets, MAFINDO’s success lies in its uniqueness of radical inclusivity and deliberately targets overlooked demographics.

It leverages on a predominantly large volunteer force exceeding a thousand individuals coordinated by a professional team with more than 20 regional branches in Indonesia.

Guided by MAFINDO’s verification rules, the wider public in Indonesia helps this NGO to fact-check, thereby increasing its fact-checking capacity significantly.

It is notable that digital forgeries will get more complex with the advancement of AI and synthetic media. Thoroughly verified news strengthens public trust in journalism and the presence of critical thinkers in society elevates journalists’ professional standards.

Media-literate journalists and the public are interdependent defences against widespread digital forgeries. After all, technology is created by humans and thus the ultimatum should remain with us mortal beings.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Normahfuzah Ahmad teaches journalism and media-related courses at Universiti Utara Malaysia. She can be contacted at normahfuzah@uum.edu.my