Lebanon’s MTV slammed over deepfake video of Beirut port blast victims

An MTV Lebanon video commemorating the victims of the Beirut port blast has been branded as insensitive by social media users.

Titled “A Letter to the Lebanese Judiciary,” the video was shared on MTV online platforms alongside the hashtag, “it’s been a year, the time is up.”

It featured deepfakes of two victims of the devastating Aug. 4 explosion, Ralph Mallahi and Amin Al-Zahed, speaking directly to the camera while pictures and clips from the blast were shown for context.

ضحيّتا انفجار المرفأ يطلّان في فيديو… أمين: "اجسادنا تحررت بس نفوسنا عم تتعذب" ورالف: "من آلامنا وبقايا عضامنا، رح يتعمر لبنان جديد"…#mtvlebanon #صاروا_سنة_خلص_الوقت pic.twitter.com/kCXfYtc4Vs

— MTV Lebanon (@mtvlebanon) July 27, 2021

But the video was slammed by many people on social media with some calling it inappropriate, especially in the run-up to the first anniversary of the disaster.

Mouin Jaber, co-host of the popular Lebanese podcast “Sarde After Dinner,” said: “It’s dystopian. It’s emotional manipulation and blackmail taken to a whole other uncanny level.

“You’d understand deepfaking someone who passed away a long time ago, such as seeing an (Albert) Einstein deepfake explaining relativity at a museum, but this is something else.

“One cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that every single TV station in Lebanon is either backed by a political party, or subject to the highest bidder. And that makes you question the intent of those deepfakes, which put me in an even more uncomfortable position than I want to admit,” he said.

Others described the video as “appalling” and “traumatizing” and claimed that the Lebanese people did not require such forms of media to demand justice.

Some even reported the video for causing offence and psychological harm.