Deepfake or cheapfake? Video making false allegations against Walz goes viral

David Williams October 29, 2024
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Tim Walz is a former teacher, but the claims against him are fake. Image by AP PHOTO

WHAT WAS CLAIMED

Video shows a man claiming he was assaulted by US vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

OUR VERDICT

False. The video is fake, and uses either an impersonator or AI technology.

AAP FACTCHECK -  Artificial intelligence experts agree that a video claiming to show a victim of assault by US vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is fake — but their conflicting assessments over how it was produced reflect the increasing sophistication of fake videos seeking to spread disinformation.

The video, which has gone viral on social media on various platforms including X, Instagram and Facebook, claims to be Matthew Metro, a former student of a school Tim Walz taught at. A fake account on X called Matt Metro also carried the video.

But the video doesn't feature the real Matthew Metro, and intelligence agencies believe it's part of a Russian disinformation plot.

Screenshot of a fake video of a person falsely identified as Mr Metro.
The person making the claims isn't the man who attended Mankato West High in 1997. (AAP /X)

One of many similar posts claims: "Matthew Metro has come forward and officially Accused Tim Walz of s*xually assaulting him while Walz was his teacher at Mankato West High School in 1997. This is disturbing."

The four-minute video begins with a man claiming he is Matthew Metro, and that he's a "survivor of sexual assault".

He says he was a student at Mankato West High School in Minnesota (34 seconds), that Tim Walz was his teacher (1:11), and alleged that Mr Walz groped and kissed him (from 2:51). 

Tim Walz was a teacher at Mankato West High, as has been widely reported.

But the man in the video is not Mr Metro. The Washington Post tracked down the real Matthew Metro, who said he did attend the school but that the man in the video is not him.

He told the newspaper that he never met Mr Walz, and that no such assault occurred.