Key Highlights
- While technology promised a new frontier of storytelling, it instead delivered a “disinformation winter” that tested the bedrock of democratic institutions. The year 2025 saw a record number of “synthetic influence operations”, coordinated campaigns using AI-generated avatars and “cloned” media brands to hijack public discourse.
- It was the year disinformation became a service and truth became a luxury. The battle for the narrative has moved beyond the printing press to the algorithm.
- UNESCO’s 2025 World Trends Report highlights a 10 per cent decline in global freedom of expression, exacerbated by “hashtag hijacking” and bot networks that silence authentic voices. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAs traditional media outlets struggle with declining referral traffic from social giants, they are being forced into a high-stakes media battle against “alternative ecosystems” of influencers and podcasters who often prioritise engagement over evidence. More from World From Yoon Suk Yeol to Paetongtarn Shinawatra: World leaders who lost power in 2025 Global Growth Forecast 2026: India Leads as US, Europe and China Face Slower ExpansionIn this environment, the press is no longer just reporting the news; it is fighting for its right to exist in an era of digital deception. AI-generated political chaos goes mainstreamArtificial intelligence was no longer a novelty in political interference in 2025.
- Hyper-realistic deepfake videos, cloned voices and fabricated documents surfaced across continents, blurring the line between truth and fiction.
- In several countries, manipulated videos of political leaders appeared to show inflammatory speeches, false confessions or policy reversals, circulating widely before corrections could catch up. Multiple reports cited instances where synthetic media briefly influenced market sentiment, triggered protests or forced authorities into emergency clarifications.
