Propelled by the spectacular rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI), deepfakes — digital manipulations that impersonate real people — are now commonplace in the global news landscape. Between December 2023 and December 2025, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) identified at least 100 journalists targeted by this technology across 27 countries — with the documented cases representing only the visible part of a much larger phenomenon. RSF recommends a four-step response for journalists: warn the public, protect journalists, document the attack, and report the content.
Warn the Public
A journalist who becomes the victim of a deepfake can inform the public to warn them that fake content is being spread. The message must be clear and stick to the facts
Protect Yourself
Once this has been done, the victim should delegate the management of their social media accounts — and their moderation — to a trusted third party (relatives, friends, colleagues) and, if necessary, disable social media notifications.
Discovering oneself saying things one never said, or being depicted in humiliating situations, is a form of psychological abuse.
Document the Attack
Save and document the content. It may also help to have a trusted third party handle evidence gathering and the reporting of these attacks.
This process involves uploading the entire file (video, image, or audio) relating to the attack — and, for social media posts, taking screenshots that include the account name, date, time, and exact URL.
Check whether the content is a sponsored post: a sponsored deepfake involves a traceable financial transaction. Public advertising libraries (Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center, etc.) also provide additional information.
To safeguard evidence, use internet archiving services such as the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine or Archive.today, which create timestamped screenshots. Save the links: these archives remain accessible even after the original content has been deleted.
Report the Content
Finally, it is important to report the content in question to the relevant platforms in order to request its removal.
Depending on your national context and the nature of the deepfake, other public bodies may also be able to help. In France, for example, the Pharos platform enables users to quickly report illegal content online.
Civil society organisations, such as RSF, can also assist in documenting campaigns and ensuring they receive media coverage. The importance of media coverage of these attacks is often underestimated, wrongly so. Once made public, every incident can be used to build a body of evidence that researchers and lawmakers can then use to push for better regulation.
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