No, That's Not Tom Cruise Playing Golf. Deepfake Videos Of Actor Go Viral

A series of deepfake videos of Tom Cruise are going viral on social media. The videos, posted to TikTok over the past week, appear to show the actor engaging in a number of innocuous activities. In one video, 'Tom Cruise' performs a magic trick. In another, he practices his golf swing, and in a third, he relates a joke to listeners.

The videos are so realistic that millions of social media users are having a hard time believing that they did not watch the Hollywood actor himself on their screens. Many wondered if Tom Cruise had joined TikTok when the videos first surfaced online

While the clips may seem harmless, they have sparked concerns about how deepfake videos can be used to spread misinformation, reports CNN .

This is not Tom Cruise

This is a deep fake

This probably isn't great news for Cameo pic.twitter.com/CqkzNOAFQp

— Damian Burns (@damianburns) February 26, 2021

Journalist Yashar Ali pointed out that the deepfake videos were good enough to confuse the average viewer, even when they were not super high quality. 

Here's the crazy thing about this Tom Cruise deepfake....

This isn't even a super high quality deepfake and I'm willing to bet that it could fool most people.

Now imagine the quality of deepfake a government agency could produce.https://t.co/wMFMarEtAi pic.twitter.com/CjTxnNv2XI

— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) February 26, 2021

The videos were shared on a TikTok account called @deeptomcruise. Highly convincing in their portrayal of the 58-year-old actor, they managed to confuse a number of viewers. However, TikTok is reportedly not taking any action against the creator of the videos because they do not violate the platform's policy against harmful deepfakes or impersonations.

According to Bored Panda, the creator of these videos is Chris Ume from Belgium. Not much is known about him, but his three deepfakes have garnered more than 11 million views on TikTok alone - along with several more on other social media platforms. 

Deepfakes are falsified videos that are made using AI technology. These fabricated images and sounds appear to be so realistic that experts warn they can become an important tool in spreading misinformation.