'We Don't Hate Journalists Enough': The Story of an F-ed Up Deepfake

When journalist Julia Mengolini criticized her country’s president, Javier Milei, she didn’t expect to be targeted with one of the more disturbing uses of AI: a pornographic deepfake video designed to humiliate her. What began as trolling by online extremists spiraled into a government-amplified smear campaign, spurred on by senior officials and the president himself.

Juila tells reporter/producer Zach St. Louis what happened to her and what she’s doing to fight back against President Milei – an ally of Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s.  

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Please help support our show by visiting our sponsor, the notetaking and personal assistant device Plaud.ai, and use offer code QUESTION.

Guests:

Julia Mengolini — Journalist, radio host, and co-founder of Futurock

Propagandist? Truth teller? Influencer? Question Everything unravels the contested work of journalists and the moral complexities surrounding the stories that impact us all.