SINGAPORE, April 15 — Former Singapore president Halimah Yacob said she will be lodging a police report after discovering a deepfake video in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about the Singapore government.
In a Facebook post today, Halimah described the clip as “completely false”, adding that the video even managed to replicate her voice.
“This is scary how AI is being used to influence voters during this critical period,” she wrote, pointing to the upcoming Singapore general election, which is widely expected to be called soon.
She also urged all parties to stay above the fray.
“Let’s maintain some decorum, decency and fairness when you participate in this election regardless of which side you are on.
“Fight on the basis of the strength of your vision and the strength of your candidates and their ability to see that vision through. Don’t resort to dirty tactics like this... It’s not a one-off boxing match,” she added.
Halimah, who served as Singapore’s eighth president from 2017 to 2023, said she would not be sharing the video so as to avoid fuelling its spread.
Before her presidency, she was Speaker of Parliament from 2013 to 2017, and a long-serving MP representing the People’s Action Party in Jurong GRC (2001–2015) and later Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC (2015–2017).
