TikTok says it has taken down deepfake videos spreading trade falsehoods
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OTTAWA – TikTok says it has taken down accounts associated with a network that uses deepfakes to spread divisive and false content to Canadians.
The company said Friday it has permanently banned the accounts named in a report released by McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy on Thursday.
TikTok said it also launched its own investigation that removed additional content and accounts that were breaking the platform’s rules on deceptive behaviour and misleading AI-generated content.
“As tactics evolve, we continue to collaborate with researchers on this industry-wide challenge and strengthen our moderation technology, which helps us remove more than 98 per cent of deceptive behaviour content before it’s reported to us,” a TikTok spokesperson said.
The McGill report says the network uses deepfakes of real influencers and includes nearly 300 TikTok and Instagram accounts whose videos were viewed 22.1 million times in the past three months.
The report says many of the videos focused on the U.S.-Canada trade war and the most-watched videos included false information. A video about a non-existent 48-hour ultimatum from U.S. President Donald Trump got more than 5 million views.
The people who comment on the videos don’t seem to realize they are fake, with only 6.3 per cent saying the video is inauthentic or propaganda, the report notes.
The report says it’s not clear who is behind the network but it’s “almost certainly” operated from outside of North America.
Meta declined to comment on the report and a spokesperson did not immediately answer when asked a followup question about whether it has taken down the videos on Instagram.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2026.