After a fake phone call between an alleged Vitali Klitschko and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD), the state security service responsible for politically motivated crimes is investigating the criminal police. A political motive is assumed, said a police spokesman on Saturday morning. The direction in which the investigations lead is therefore dependent on the findings that the investigators achieve.
During a video call on Friday, Giffey had doubts as to whether she was actually connected to Kiev’s mayor as planned. The conversation then ended prematurely. The Senate Chancellery assumes digital manipulation: “Apparently we are dealing with deepfake,” said Senate spokeswoman Lisa Frerichs.
The mayors of Madrid and Vienna also received calls from the wrong Klitschko. Madrid Mayor José Luis Martinez-Almeida was also quick to become suspicious of the video call and broke off the call, Mayor’s Office spokesman Daniel Bardavío Colebrook confirmed.
The mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), apparently didn’t notice anything. The interview took place on Wednesday. Ludwig even issued a press release afterwards. And on Saturday morning could still be read on his Twitter pagehe had the opportunity to “discuss the current situation in Ukraine” in the video call with Klitschko. Four tweets were published on June 22, including a picture.
Ludwig told an ORF journalist on Saturday that the caller spoke in English. The e-mail addresses used to prepare the conversation seemed trustworthy. Towards the end, the alleged Klitschko would have been more demanding. So the conversation ended, but there was still no doubt. Ludwig told the ORF: “After the conversation didn’t deal with any catchy topics, it’s definitely annoying in a specific case, but not a big problem.”
Deepfakes are photos, audio recordings or videos created with the help of artificial intelligence that appear authentic but are not. Existing media content is largely autonomously falsified or modified.
“This is criminal energy”
So far, one can only speculate as to what kind of manipulation was used in Giffey’s video call with the fake Klitschko. This is the subject of the investigation.
The photo published by the Senate Chancellery shows Kiev’s mayor in a setting that looks like an interview with a Ukrainian journalist in the spring. Klitschko wears the same tan jacket and the Ukrainian flag can also be seen in the background. Video footage of the interview at the time may have been used as a basis and merged in real time with the voice and lip movements of whoever was actually speaking to Giffey. Such an approach is called face reenactment. At the beginning of the conversation, people were asked if it could be in Russian and translated, Giffey said on Twitter. It would be understandable that she paid relatively little attention to the voice of her interlocutor because she followed the translation.
The real Klitschko is now hoping to talk to Giffey soon. Of the picture-Zeitung, after learning about the fake call to Giffey and Madrid Mayor José Luis Martinez-Almeida, Klitschko said: “I hope we can talk on my official channels soon.” Klitschko added: “I don’t need translators either.”
After the fake calls in European town halls, Klitschko also demanded. “This is criminal energy. It must be determined urgently who is behind it,” said Klitschko in a video, the picture spread on Saturday.
Klitschko said: “A fake Klitschko has reported to several mayors in Europe who said absurd things.” Klitschko emphasized that official talks can only take place through official channels in Kyiv.