Original subtitles

Come on, Tech Club

Arielle If you wanna have some fun...

Shit, yes

But you know the DJ.

Whoo

I'm already feeling it

Good shit

This is the best we can offer.

There are certain journalistic standards,

processes that we have to stick to..

What Censor it

We can't censor the video.

People should see exactly what they did to him.

We've got murdered journalists,

planes brought down in the Congo,

and Russian state actors involved in the assassination

of political candidates.

But there is no public interest argument in seeing the blood.

-No. -Yeah, we totally get that.

We're just worried that if it's censored,

that the world will ignore it.

-No, no, no. Please. -Why not

Trust me. This is enough.

Publishing the story with us gives it mainstream exposure,

and we need that.

Tomorrow, Moses Mbemba will run for election in the Congo.

-And most likely he's gonna win. -Obviously.

So, it is imperative that we let the Congolese people know

the extent of Russian interference in their country

before they head to the polls in the morning.

Yeah So this evening is the deadline. By midnight.

-Yes. -I agree. We-we have to try.

Censored or not, people have to see the video.

Yeah, we all agree. It's the right move.

Okay, then we publish.

-We're gonna call you back. -Great. Yeah.

As soon as, as soon as we get the all-clear from the lawyers.

- Okay. Bye. - Bye.

No.

Don't discuss this with anyone.

If you care about your daughter,

you make sure that video isn't published.

- Who is this - I repeat.

Destroy the video, or you'll never see her again.

Wait Wait Wait

Yeah, okay, that's fine, if you could just...

- Hey. - Yeah, hello, it's me.

Wait, hang on. Everyone, it's Etienne.

I'm putting you on speaker.

Okay. Um, it's probably nothing,

but, um, I wondered if...

we can hang fire for a moment on publishing.

-No. -Why

Because, I spotted something.

I-I mean, maybe some artefacting

in the video which I don't like.

Plus some metadata has been stripped.

I see it a lot in the GAN generated videos.

But I-I think we need to be sure

before sharing the video on the website

t-t-to avoid any accusation that it is a deep fake.

So, um, I-I-I need some time.

Etienne, we can give you two hours at most.

We go to print at midnight GMT.

No. No, no. No. Please, I-I need more.

That's impossible. You know, the Congo goes to the polls

first thing in the morning.

The whole point of putting this on cloud tonight

is to make sure that the Congolese people

No, no, I already heard that

- So... - What is wrong with him

Well, then y-you probably also know that she's right.

This is, this is really bad timing.

Yeah. Okay, fine.

Fine, two hours is better than nothing.

Um, I just need to know who has the old file.

All of us. Including Maya.

Okay, I-I will send you a new version

with the anomalies highlighted.

And-and-and then we-we decide together.

- Okay But, um... - Yeah.

I just need you all to watch it.

- Yeah. Of course. - Yes.

Thank you.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Um, I'm gonna call Lucas.

Yeah, good idea.

I'll be right back.

Hey, Lucas, it's Aaron.

Okay.

Okay.

Ai, ai, ai, ai. ai.

Yeah, guys, I'm just gonna say it.

I think Etienne's wrong.

I don't see any of the red flags

you might expect from a deepfake, so...

So no artefacts, like false reflection of the eyes,

or t-t-the texture of the hair, any of...

The inside of mouth, lip movements

- None of that. - Basically anything...

that doesn't have a fixed shape

The artefacts in the video are

probably just an inefficient compression algorithm,

and beyond that, I don't see anything suspicious.

-Yeah, okay. But... No, no, no. -Well then this is great news...

Good for you, but I think still it's-it's super weird

for Etienne to get this wrong.

I think he's just feeling the pressure.

I tried calling him a couple of times,

but he, he won't pick up.

So, we publish.

There is no point waiting any longer.

The file is legitimate, Lucas, you have confirmed this,

and so have my tech guys.

Maya, we gave him our word.

We honour what we said.

We wait until midnight.

Hey.

Hey, hey

Come here.

You can rest here.

There. Now she won't put up a fight.

Did the dad do what you wanted

Shut up.

Art Fuel.

Okay. Okay.

She's not well.

Now, stay down.

One more.

Delia, I've tried him a dozen times.

- But I can do... - Delia. Delia.

You know it's time. Etienne understood the urgency.

Yeah, guys, I agree. We need to move fast.

Just in the past hour, there's been a flood of

pro-Moses Mbemba posts.

We can't let him win.

Come on, come on, come on. You need to do it together.

Quick, here. It's ready. Come on.

Yeah, we have to.

I'm right there with you, guys.

Yeah.

Three, two, one, and go.

Congratulations, you have just shared

your story with 50 million readers.

How does that feel

Arielle

Papa

Papa

Morning.

I think you're right to be cautious about Mbemba.

He's always made me uneasy.

-Yeah -Yeah.

Even when we worked together.

I was never as brave as you and your friends.

Aw

So now that you've published, what would you like to do today

I don't know. What do you wanna do

Come on.

Help me out here.

Geological engineers aren't exactly

known for their spontaneity.

-No, not really. -We tend to think in eons.

- Mmh. Well, more like ice ages. - Come on.

Do you know what Actually, an ice age is

often shorter than an eon...

- Fuck me - which is a thousand million...

Is something wrong

What the fuck

Is everything okay

I just need to check something.

KollectiveLies, what is this

Shit

Thank God you're picking up. We're trying to

reach you and Etienne for hours.

It's a really bad time to disappear.

Have you seen what's happening

Yeah, I fucking know. They're burying the story.

Make enough noise, sow enough doubt,

eventually you'll just drown the fucking truth.

Did you see this hashtag that started trending

-#KollectiveLies. -Yeah, we saw. We need to react.

I already did.

I wrote a quick program that maps the accounts.

Who they follow, which accounts retweet other accounts,

looking for the connections between them.

And using that data, we can start to form

an interesting pattern.

So, there's this network that starts growing,

but it's fast, I-I mean, fucking fast.

Like, it's grown exponentially.

So we've incurred the wrath of a Russian troll farm

No, no, no. A Russian troll farm would mean

a couple of dozen people repasting

the same thing from some Moscow bunker.

But this is a lot bigger.

So we're talking hundreds of employees

Well, make that tens of thousands.

If I'm right, we've never seen an operation this scale before.

Can it be located

You'd think not, but I have a theory

that everybody fucks up eventually.

So, I wrote another programme.

I started scraping all the links from all these tweets,

every website these accounts reference.

And then we can start looking for another pattern,

something all these websites have in common.

This is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Not if they all share the same DNS server.

No way.

Then it's just a simple case of a Whois search for that server

and a bit of sweet, common, human error.

And guess what I found their mistake.

Someone forgot to turn on domain privacy.

So the hosting server is registered to a company

in Saint Petersburg. The Web Research Agency.

I tried accessing their servers online,

but fuck, they're well-protected

Do we know who's at the top

According to The Russian Public Corporate Register

one "Constantin Drischev."

He operates a dozen companies, right across the country.

Yep, that's the one.

We're talking private jets,

properties worth tens of millions.

Do we think this Drischev is our man at the top

Yeah and everything points to him.

Guys, Mbemba's just been elected.

They got away with it.

Buried the fucking story, got the man they wanted.

Fuck

Hi, guys.

Um... I lied to you last night,

when I asked you not to, to publish the video.

So I owe you an apology.

You have to know that Arielle was in danger,

and they were threatening to kill her.

So...

as long as they can blackmail me,

I will always be a threat for, for the Kollective.

The work we are doing means a lot to me,

but now, I have to fix things, so...

So I am out.

I'm out.

Hi, guys.

Um, I lied to you last night

when I asked you not to, to publish the video.

- So I owe you an apology. - Delia.

You have to know that Arielle...

We'll miss our plane.

We need Etienne.

But he has a kid and he wouldn't want this to

distract us, would he

Hey, guys, I just heard Etienne's message.

Please be careful.

What do you mean, Saint Petersburg

Well, it's not like you can just walk up to the WRA

and demand that they let you in, which is why we're meeting

one of Anna's friends.

She's put us in touch. She's gonna help us.

Her name's Sofiya.

Look, the guy who runs the Web Research Agency

is Michael Drischev, D-R-I-S-C-H-E-V.

He's rich, super rich.

All that disinformation,

we think it might be coming from his building.

Come in.

Kitchen, toilet.

-Hi. -Hi.

So, we need to get into the WRA building.

I gathered that.

Right. Well then, any bright ideas

I have already checked it out.

It's a big building, 15 floors

with a whole bunch of companies based there.

One thing you learn in a protest,

there is safety in crowds.

So, my plan I'm just gonna walk inside.

And then, we'll see who works there.

Nice, good job.

Now try to find a Web Research Agency.

Okay, I think we might have something.

Let me look.

Can you get a little closer

I will try.

WRA, Suite 1.1.

There we go.

Here, 1.1.

I hate those fucking card readers.

That thing might be a problem.

Okay, I will have to check it out.

Let me try something, guys. I will call you back.

- No, don't hang up. So... - Where did she go

I don't know.

What happened You were gone two hours.

-We-we almost thought... -Came to my rescue...

I wish you had.

I almost died of boredom.

I made up a lie.

The receptionist tried calling them for two hours.

- No one answered - No.

And nobody went in or out of the office

in all that time.

Well, that's not possible. Where are the hundreds of employees

Look, I don't know, but for what it's worth,

I got some close-up photos of that keypad.

-That's great. -For your hacker friend.

-He's not really a hacker. -Yeah, sure.

Yeah, and I am not hungry.

Let's go eat.

Yeah, that keypad is a, is a no-go.

These things have an anti-tamper mech

between the faceplates, so...

The moment you try to unscrew it, or whatever

the whole thing just shorts out.

- That's not gonna work. - This guy talks really fast.

-Doesn't he -You'll get used to it.

-Don't worry. -Hey, Saint Petersburg.

I heard that.

But it got me thinking. Because maybe we don't need Sofiya

to waste days inside that lobby, potentially blowing her cover,

waiting to see who, if anyone ever at all,

walks through that door.

Because maybe you'll allow me to introduce you

to the marvels of... technology.

An old-fashioned plant

When something becomes so ubiquitous...

people barely notice anymore.

It's worth a try.

Okay, so...

this is the camera, okay

This, you can leave anywhere in the building.

It's a Wi-Fi router for the camera.

It'll relay the video back to our server.

-Okay -Okay, I get it.

I checked the footage, and it didn't make sense.

We know what time

they were posting the disinformation.

-Daytime. Office hours. -Mmh.

When I checked it, there was nothing.

Not a single person that walks through that door.

Well, let me guess. Then you had a smart idea.

You checked nights

I checked nights.

Clever boy.

It's just logical.

Okay, let's just keep watching the...

the footage of the night.

That must be the janitor.

Well, his key-card is our way inside.

- It could be a one-off. - Yeah.

Did you watch the rest of the footage, clever boy

-No, clever boy didn't, but... -But let's do it.

Okay. Maybe he comes back tonight too. Alright.

Guys. Wake up.

Hey, Sofiya.

He left.

Okay.

I'm here. Talk to me.

Okay, we see you.

Yeah, we've got eyes on the janitor.

He should be with you in a few minutes.

You're sure I'm in the right place

Certain.

He took the same route last night.

Wait.

I think I see him.

Great.

- Stick with him. - I got him.

Yeah, we've got another blind spot up ahead.

So just stay close.

Though not too close.

Okay, I see him.

And now you as well.

It's a red light. Hurry

He's fast.

Can't you just hold the traffic lights or something

It doesn't work that way.

This would be a pretty neat party trick, right

These are public traffic cameras,

nothing more exciting.

You still with him

Yeah, I see him.

Okay, we should be seeing you in...

quite soon.

Wait-wait, I-I have to change the camera feeds.

Okay, okay. I've got him. He's crossing over.

Okay. We see you again.

Yeah, keep some distance.

Don't go too close.

We don't wanna make him suspicious.

You can't let him see you.

Slow down.

Sofiya, do you hear us

Shelideyev Elenka

Okay, Sofiya. This, this feels definitely too public.

Wait until he's somewhere more private

and away from his friends, okay

What the fuck

Sofiya, what are you doing

Sofiya, do you hear us Don't do this.

- What the fuck - My God.

Sofiya, if you're not... Wait, wait, wait.

What is she doing

No...

I don't know.

She got the key card.

Sorry, I didn't have all night.

Hey.

Great. Thanks.

-Key card. -You're amazing.

-Good luck. -Good job. Thank you.

-Bye. -Thank you.

Guys, are we really doing this

We're breaking and entering now

Well, technically, it's just entering.

We've got a key card.

From what I can find online,

the nearest police station is only a five-minute drive.

That we know of, sure.

Yeah. Anyway, I'd be quick.

Can't take too long before that guy

finds out his badge is missing.

And talk to me. I wanna know what's in there.

Let's get this right.

Guys

A... Aaron, you hear me I-I'm losing you, I think.

Lucas

Delia.

-We've lost him. -We need to film it.

Come on, Aaron.

Aaron Bertel.

Delia.

It's emanating thousands of people commenting at once.

Sowing doubt-fire, undermining the reality.

Posted without human intervention.

So it's-it's self-sustaining.

It's one big disinformation system.

What does that say

How are they powering all this

"Prompt."

Go ahead.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but I, brought you these.

Some... It's just some flowers.

How about some pizza

-I would love a pizza. -Good. I'll-I'll go...

and get some, be back in ten.

What did you type

"Generate video footage

of Thierry Lusamba with a sex worker."

"Five variations."

It even compensated homophobic bias in the DLC.

It's doing this in real time.

I've never seen deep fake technology this advanced.

These are all comments on our article.

No, it's everywhere.

Keep filming.

Who the fuck are you

It's locked.

Why don't you shut your fucking mouth

Come on.

We're gonna make you very famous now, yeah

Alright, stop already. We're running out of time.

Please don't shoot

Okay

My phone I lost the phone

Let's go

Maya sent us. Get inside.

Come on, let's go

We're trending

Fuck. Fuck We have to go now

Put your heads down

It's not much, but it'll do in a pinch.

Is Sofiya okay

We've taken her somewhere else for the night, just to be safe.

Here's a burner, in case you need to

make any emergency calls.

Please, turn your own phones off and keep them off

until you're out of the country.

Thank you.

Don't thank me, thank Maya.

Your flight out is in about five hours,

so I suggest you get some rest.

I lost the phone.

It's okay.

No, it's not.

Everything we just risked was for...

for nothing.

No.

Not for nothing.

We saw what was happening in there.

It means we know what's going on.

Yeah, but we...

we can't prove it.

Aaron, we're alive.

Yeah, but...

Let's get some rest, go home.

Can you, can you stop there, please

Right there.