"It Matches My Worldview": Examining Perceptions and Attitudes Around Fake Videos

We present a qualitative study with 36 diverse social media users in India to critically examine how low-resource communities engage with fake videos, including cheapfakes and AI-generated deepfakes. We find that most users are unaware of digitally manipulated fake videos and perceive videos to be fake only when they present inaccurate information. Few users who know about doctored videos expect them to be of poor quality and know nothing about sophisticated deepfakes. Moreover, most users lack the skills and willingness to spot fake videos and some were oblivious to the risks and harms of fake videos. Even when users know a video to be fake, they prefer to take no action and sometimes willingly share fake videos that favor their worldview. Drawing on our findings, we discuss design recommendations for social media platforms to curb the spread of fake videos.