Manipulating pictures is nothing new. Many experts track it back to the mid-1800s. Often, these fake images were cut and glued together by hand. One of the most famous is a print of President Abraham Lincoln. It shows his head on another man’s body. Nobody noticed the image was a fake until the 1950s. 

    Today you don’t need scissors or even a camera to create a fake image or video. All you need is your phone. Basic editing apps make it easy to swap out the background of a photo. Other apps allow you to add, cut, or change footage from real videos. When posted to social media, these images and videos can spread quickly. 

    For example, you might have seen a viral video of basketball star LeBron James last spring. It showed him traveling halfway down the court during a game. (In basketball, traveling is against the rules. It means taking several steps without dribbling.) 

    But guess what? That clip of James wasn’t real. Someone had edited the footage. And if that person’s goal was to get views and shares, it worked. Millions of people ended up watching it.

    Manipulating pictures is nothing new. It even happened in the mid-1800s. Often, these fake images were cut and glued together by hand. One famous example shows President Abraham Lincoln. His head is on another man’s body. Nobody noticed the print was a fake until the 1950s. 

    Today you don’t need scissors to create a fake image or video. You just need your phone. A basic app lets you change the background of a photo. Other apps let you add, cut, or change footage from real videos. These images and videos can spread quickly on social media. 

    Did you see the video of basketball star LeBron James last spring? It showed him traveling halfway down the court during a game. (Traveling is against the rules. It means taking several steps without dribbling.) 

    Guess what? That clip of James wasn’t real. Someone had edited it. Was the person’s goal to get views? If so, it worked. Millions of people watched the video.

    Manipulating pictures is nothing new. Many experts trace it back to the mid-1800s, when fake images were created by cutting and gluing pieces together by hand. One of the most famous is a print of President Abraham Lincoln. Nobody noticed that the print—which shows Lincoln’s head on another man’s body—was a fake until the 1950s. 

    Today you don’t need scissors or even a camera to create a fake image or video. All you need is your phone. Basic editing apps make it easy to swap out the background of a photo, and other apps allow you to add, cut, or change footage from real videos. When posted to social media, these images and videos can spread quickly. 

    For example, you might have seen a viral video of basketball star LeBron James last spring. It showed him traveling halfway down the court during a game. (In basketball, traveling—which means taking several steps without dribbling—is against the rules.) 

    But that clip of James wasn’t real. Someone had edited the footage, and if that person’s goal was to get views and shares, it worked. Millions of people ended up watching it.

    The video of James was mostly harmless. But some people go further. They change voices and faces. They make it look like someone said or did something they didn’t. These types of videos are called deepfakes. And they are some of the hardest to detect.

    Deepfakes can be dangerous. For example, someone created a video to affect the war between Russia and Ukraine. These two countries have been fighting since February 2022. 

    Volodymyr Zelensky is the president of Ukraine. After the war started, a video showed him telling his troops to stop fighting. But the video wasn’t real. The creator had put Zelensky’s head on a body from different footage. 

    People quickly realized it was a deepfake. But experts say it could have had serious effects on the war.

    The deepfake also made it harder for people to trust videos with the real Zelensky. People worried that those videos might be deepfakes too. 

    The video of James was mostly harmless, but some video creators go even further. They change voices and faces to make it look like someone said or did something they didn’t. These types of videos, called deepfakes, are some of the hardest to detect.

    Deepfakes can be dangerous. In one example, someone created a video to influence the war between the countries of Russia and Ukraine, which have been fighting since February 2022. 

    Volodymyr Zelensky is the president of Ukraine. Shortly after the war started, a video showed him calling for his troops to stop fighting. However, the video wasn’t real. The creator had combined Zelensky’s head with a body from different footage. 

    The video was quickly called out as a deepfake. But experts say it could have had serious effects on the war.

    The deepfake also made it harder for people to trust the real Zelensky videos that followed. People were worried that those videos might have been deepfakes too.