As John Mearsheimer’s deepfake videos proliferated on YouTube, the American academic rushed to have them removed, embarking on a grueling fight that laid bare the challenges of combating AI-based identity theft.
The international relations specialist has spent months pressuring the Google-owned platform to remove hundreds of deepfakes, an uphill battle that serves as a warning to professionals vulnerable to misinformation and identity theft in the age of AI.
In recent months, Mearsheimer’s office at the University of Chicago identified 43 YouTube channels promoting AI fabrications using his image, some depicting him making controversial remarks about heated geopolitical rivalries.
A fabricated clip, which also surfaced on TikTok, purported to show the academic commenting on Japan’s strained relations with China after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed support for Taiwan in November.
Another realistic AI clip, with a Mandarin voiceover aimed at a Chinese audience, purported to show Mearsheimer arguing that American credibility and influence were weakening in Asia as Beijing advanced.
“This is a terribly disturbing situation because these videos are fake and are designed to make viewers feel like they are real,” Mearsheimer said. AFP.
“It undermines the notion of open and honest discourse that we so desperately need and that YouTube is supposed to facilitate.”
At the heart of the fight was what Mearsheimer’s office described as a slow and tedious process that prevents channels from being flagged for violation unless the targeted person’s name or image is in their title, description or avatar.
As a result, his office was forced to submit individual takedown requests for each deepfake video, a laborious process that required a dedicated employee.
“Manufacturing at AI Scale”
Even then, the system failed to stem the spread. New AI channels continued to sprout, some changing their names slightly – such as calling themselves “Jhon Mearsheimer” – to escape scrutiny and removal.
“The biggest problem is that they [YouTube] “do not prevent the emergence of new channels dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of me,” Mearsheimer said.
After months of back-and-forth — and what Mearsheimer described as a “herculean” effort — YouTube shut down 41 of the 43 channels identified.
But the takedowns only happened after many deepfake clips gained popularity, and the risk of their reappearance persists.
“AI is evolving manufacturing itself. When anyone can generate a convincing image of you in seconds, the harm is not just the image. It’s the breakdown of denial. The burden of proof is on the victim,” said Vered Horesh, of AI startup Bria. AFP.
“Security cannot be a process of withdrawal: it must be a requirement of the product.”
In its response, a YouTube spokesperson said it was committed to creating “AI technology that responsibly empowers human creativity” and that it applied its policies “consistently” for all creators, regardless of their use of AI.
In his recent annual letter outlining YouTube’s priorities for 2026, CEO Neal Mohan wrote that the platform is “actively leveraging” its systems to reduce the spread of “AI slop” — low-quality visual content — while planning to significantly expand AI tools for its creators.
“A big headache”
Mearsheimer’s experience highlights a new Internet filled with deception, where rapid advances in generative AI distort shared realities and allow anonymous scammers to target professionals with public profiles.
Hoaxes produced with inexpensive AI tools can often escape detection, fooling unsuspecting viewers.
In recent months, doctors have been impersonated to sell fake medical products, CEOs to peddle fraudulent financial advice, and academics to fabricate opinions for politically motivated actors in geopolitical rivalries.
Mearsheimer said he plans to launch his own YouTube channel to help protect users from deepfakes impersonating him.
Echoing this approach, Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist and professor at Columbia University, recently announced the launch of his own channel in response to “the extraordinary proliferation of fake AI-generated videos of me” on the platform.
“The YouTube process is difficult to navigate and is generally completely crazy,” Sachs said. AFP.
“There remains a proliferation of counterfeits, and it is not easy for my office to track them down, or even notice them until they have been around for some time. This is a major and ongoing headache,” he added.
