Video of Danish PM Frederiksen addressing the world is a deepfake

By: Nikolaj Kristensen
June 6 2023

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Context

A deepfake video of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen began circulating on TikTok in late May 2023. In the video, Frederiksen appears to admit to deleting important text messages because she had something to hide and talks about culling mink and violating the Danish constitution. The footage seems to be from a press briefing. However, the video is a fake.

In Fact

One thing that reveals the video is a fake is that it begins with Frederiksen saying, “Back home I’m known as Slette-Mette (a nickname given to the PM by a tabloid newspaper; slette is the Danish word for ‘delete.’)” It is clear from the decor in the video that the supposed press briefing takes place at the Prime Minister’s Office, so talks of “back home” are nonsensical since the PM is home.

The footage used for the fake is, in all likelihood, taken from a press briefing held on March 30, 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was 18 months before she was nicknamed “Slette-Mette” by a national tabloid newspaper in October 2021, after it was revealed she had enabled a function to automatically delete old messages from her official phone.

The deepfake video is in English, while the original press briefing was in Danish. The deepfake starts with the words, “Hello world,” and it is possible that this video was made in light of Fredereksen being mentioned as a possible candidate for the soon-to-be vacant seat of NATO secretary general, as rumored by the Norwegian newspaper VG on April 21. The talks have intensified recently, leading to Frederiksen visiting the White House on June 5, 2023 – the first time in her four years as prime minister.

The Verdict

The video of the Danish Prime Minister addressing the world and admitting to deleting text messages because she had something to hide is a deepfake. Footage used for the fake is from a press briefing held in March 2020. The fake has appeared amid rumors of Frederiksen being mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of NATO secretary general. We have marked this claim as false.