It's 2029 and the 'Axis of Truth' Now Runs the World...
In the wake of Trump's re-election, we revisit Kyle Taylor's prescient 'Tech Effect' column from the April print edition of Byline Times
2024 is being hailed as the “year of democracy,” with half the world’s population – four billion people – going to the polls in countries on nearly every continent. Once again, we face the same threat of disinformation distorting reality and undermining the integrity of elections. Only this election cycle, it could be far worse because of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).
The emergence of AI deepfakes means two things: First, there will be more fake information moving through information systems on social media that look real. Second, and perhaps even more harmful, people will start to believe more and more that real information is fake. We are facing a total breakdown in truth and reality at every level.
If we think back to 2020, there was an insurrection in the United States incited on social media by Donald Trump, following months of him claiming the election was rigged. Only a year later, there was an insurrection in Brazil, also facilitated on social media. Despite these obvious examples of harm, the biggest tech companies have actually reduced the size of their election integrity teams.
That’s correct, there are fewer people now working on election integrity at the biggest tech companies than there were in 2020 when there was an insurrection. That alone should be alarming. Never mind adding AI into the mix.
On Meta-owned platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Threads, the company has decided to all but stop recommending reputable news sites to users. That means people will be seeing fewer reputable news sources at a time when we can be sure more AI deepfakes are being created, shared and seen by users. This could be devastating, especially since an increasing number of people use social media as their primary avenue for consuming news.
To make matters worse, the only commitments governments have eked out of these AI behemoths (which are, unsurprisingly, largely owned by the same social media and search tech giants) are voluntary ones. No mandatory reporting requirements, zero transparency around how the tools are being used and not an iota of accountability on the CEOs if their products cause, for example, a civil war. This is all happening against a backdrop of no new federal laws in the United States regulating social media and an Online Safety Act in the UK that was completely gutted of any meaningful regulation around disinformation.
Still, we’re being told there is too much focus on the negatives. Instead, we should be looking at all the positives! The difficulty with that, however, is that we won’t be able to enjoy said positives if these companies do not first figure out how to mitigate for the worst-case scenarios, like the one I’ve developed below. The rate of change with AI is so great, it is reasonably possible that we find ourselves in this dystopia within five years. We need to be ringing the alarm before it’s too late.
Make The World Great Again
The year is 2029. President Trump has just been ‘elected’ leader for life following a special referendum that what is left of the democratic world called “plagued by irregularities.” That news, however, had no chance of actually being seen or heard in the countries that make up the new “Axis of Truth”, which maintains absolute power over all news and information.
The Axis includes countries like Putin’s Russia, Modi’s India, Miliel’s Argentina, Meloni’s Italy, Le Pen’s France and Germany, which is now led by the AfD. Bolsonaro, who has taken back control of Brazil thanks to a US-backed coup, is also seeking membership. The Axis has signed a peace and stability accord with China.
This all began simply enough when an OpenAI-generated deepfake of President Joe Biden burning a Bible went viral on Meta’s platforms - Facebook, Instagram and Threads as well as X (formerly Twitter). Neither company acted on the content, as they both said it was part of “democratic discourse in an election year.”
While an election took place, it was deemed impossible to guarantee its legitimacy, especially after the Trump campaign spread hundreds of additional AI-generated deepfakes of alleged voter fraud. With most US states controlled by Republicans, the election was certified for Trump and he was duly elected. A constitutional convention was called shortly afterward and a new “true American” test was introduced for voting.
Trump negotiated an agreement with Musk, Zuckerberg and Altman whereby, in exchange for near monopolistic power over social media and AI and a shuttering of all their competitors, they would comply with content rules set by the new Department of Truth. By the end of 2025, there were no independent news sources left in the United States.
Only information generated by OpenAI and approved by the Department of Truth was permitted.
The Department of Truth’s international program, called “Make The World Great Again”, used the same OpenAI-generated deepfake disinformation strategies to undermine elections around the world and grow the Axis of Truth. With no hope in sight, those who feared for their lives in the new wave of mass dissident arrests around the world began to flee southward to safe havens in Latin America and Africa, which, combined with the pressures of climate change, sparked a major famine that has left more than a billion people hungry. Not that you’d know about it in any Axis countries, as any information about these topics is strictly forbidden.
As for the UK, rampant election disinformation meant the 2024 Labour election victory was much smaller than expected, as AI-generated deepfake disinformation about conspiracies related to new voter ID laws spread widely and went unchecked on social media. Stuck with a small working majority and soon surrounded by Axis of Truth members, the Labour government found themselves unable to meaningfully tackle the country’s economic problems. Energy bills soared as neighbouring countries forced a surge in prices, which precipitated a knock-on mortgage payment collapse as people simply couldn’t afford to pay their bills. Following their defeat, the Conservative party merged with a fast-growing Reform party to creat the “Reformed Conservatives”, a new ultranationalist right-wing party with a resurgent Boris Johnson as its leader and Suella Braverman as its deputy.
Backed by financial support committed by Donald Trump through the “Make The World Great Again” program and promising membership in the Axis of Truth were they to be elected, people overwhelmingly voted for the Reformed Conservatives in the 2029 General Election, ushering Johnson, and his visions of being “king of the world” back into Number 10.
Kyle Taylor is a visiting fellow at the Global Peace Centre in Tokyo, focused on social media’s impact on human rights and democratic systems. He is the author of Byline Books’ bestselling The Little Black Book of Social Media and The Little Black Book of Lying Boris Johnson. This article has been adapted from The Little Black Book of Artificial Intelligence.
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