Deepfake videos that manufacture online conversations between prominent Hong Kong activists have become the first known exercise at the next level of AI-enabled impact manipulation. Perhaps the video, created by the Chinese government and the groups serving it, tells us a more customized and comprehensive approach to psychological warfare.
As China integrates Deepfark technology into its impact manipulation playbook, psychological operations can quickly use this technology as a tool for emotional and cognitive manipulation.
Deepfark Video aims to show leaky, secret conversations between exile Hong Kong activists discussing concerns about the possibility of extradition from the UK to China as a result of the UK's plan to revive the extradition deal with Hong Kong. The video was first published on July 26th by Facebook page Yellowbrain Clown. Within two hours of the original post's appearance, 22 other accounts shared the video to 17 Facebook groups.
Some accounts appear to post to different Facebook groups at the same time. For example, an account named “Pocky Miu” shared a video to two community groups and two provider groups at 11:05am. Furthermore, many accounts had typical characteristics of spam or proxy accounts. These properties include the lack of personal information, the use of landscape images for profile photos, and the lack of other publication except for Chinese content. In particular, between January and June 2025, only 12 accounts recently joined the Facebook group.
While this manipulation was likely intended to target Hong Kong, particularly democratic circles, Deepfark Video didn't get much traction. It stayed mostly in the echo chambers of Pro Boisin Camp.
Rather, its importance is a precursor to future AI-enabled impact manipulation.
It shows that psychological warfare is at the heart of China's hybrid strategy. Psychological warfare targets enemy soldiers, policymakers and relevant important figures. In Hong Kong, authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have seen notable banished activists, particularly international influence, mobilizing diaspora communities and targeting psychological manipulation, their ability to engage in lobbying or major movements.
Such an impact manipulation can serve multiple purposes. By creating a deepfake conversation between three prominent ousted activists, the operation was likely intended to promote distrust and disappointment of the British government among Hong Kongers by claiming that they were considered consumable pawns and no longer retained strategic values in the West. It was probably intended to incite fear and chaos within Hong Kong's advocacy circles and to amplify skepticism between Hong Kongers and the British government. This could ultimately undermine trust in liberal democracy and discourage social movements and international advocacy.
There weren't many deepfake videos themselves. Words and lips were out of sync. The composite voice sounded strange and unnatural, and the apparent example of the delayedness repeated with a frozen expression on it. However, the nature of the content, narrative and tactics targeted the vulnerability of the Hong Kong diaspora. The possibility that London would allow Hong Kongers to hand over a case-by-case basis has already sparked widespread fear and backlash among those who sought refuge in the UK after the 2019 democratic protests.
In recent years, China's influence operations and cognitive wars have become increasingly focused on exacerbating the controversial issues in liberal democracy. With Deepfake Technology integrated into the Chinese Influence Operation Playbook, a sophisticated era of cross-domain operations is emerging. The deepfake conversation presented in the video marked this increasingly customized and comprehensive approach to psychological warfare.
Nevertheless, this video is likely just an early test of China's future business. This operation suggests that it is simply testing water without showing any signs of specific tactics, techniques or procedures common in China's information business regarding Hong Kong-related issues. Examples of typical activities include cross-post and massive spread through the use of numerous employment commenters (called Beijing's 50 Cent Army) and political spam networks, as well as amplification by Hong Kong's leading major opinion leaders and Gray Media.
The greatest possibility of weaponized deepfakes is to maximize psychological impacts, induce fear, and increase the persuasiveness of allegations and conspiracy theories through the presentation of assumed visual evidence. We may see larger AI-enabled psychological manipulations that utilize deepfakes, not just for disguise, but also for emotional and cognitive manipulation through persuasive narrative creation.
