Unexpected. And even unprecedented. In a press release published on Thursday November 9, the IOC explained that it had recently been the target of articles containing false information. The Olympic body does not mention any of these “fake news“, nor their authors, but specifies that the articles are shared on Telegram accounts and other social networking platforms in several languages. “By way of example, alleged quotes from IOC representatives have recently been fabricated and added to fake news to give an apparent legitimacy,” the statement adds. The body also explains that it has already been confronted with “disinformation campaigns directed against it on social networks“. It cites the case of an entire documentary broadcast earlier this year, “produced with defamatory content, false narration and misinformation, using the AI-generated voice of a world-renowned Hollywood actor“. The documentary has been removed from social networks. The IOC continued: “This all appears to be part of an organized disinformation campaign“.
