New Surfshark research identifies 235 election-related deepfake incidents reported by news media across 46 countries with a combined population of 4,2-billion.
The US accounts for 87 of them, or 37% of the global total.
The earliest election deepfake incidents targeting voters appeared in India and the US in 2020. It was quite limited in 2021–2022, with nine incidents across eight countries, before accelerating in 2023 as AI tools became more widely available.
From 2024 onward, Surfshark researchers recorded 52 to 74 influential deepfake “campaigns” per year.
“Election deepfakes have stopped being an occasional incident. The reason is simple: making a convincing fake video used to take a studio, and now it takes an app and a few minutes. The same tactic now appears in local races as well as national ones. Most of this material spreads through social media, where a clip can reach millions of people long before anyone verifies it. These fakes thrive on social media because they are built to trigger an emotional reaction that bypasses our critical thinking,” says Dr Luís Costa, research lead at Surfshark.
“If a video of a candidate surprises you, check whether an established news outlet is reporting on it, and if none is, wait before spreading it further. The clips designed to change your vote are the ones built to make you angry enough to skip that step,” he adds.
The number of election deepfakes in the US is nearly nine times that in the United Kingdom, the most targeted European country (87 versus 10 incidents). US election-related deepfake activity peaked at 34 incidents between January and September 2026, amid primary elections and preparations for the November midterm elections.
Despite covering only nine months, the 2026 total was already 21% higher than the 28 incidents recorded throughout 2024, when the country held its presidential election. Individual incidents could appear across multiple platforms, so these percentages are not mutually exclusive.
Europe accounted for 38 election-related deepfake incidents, affecting 16 of the region’s 44 countries. The UK recorded the highest number of incidents, with 10, followed by Slovakia with five and Kosovo with four. Ireland and France each recorded three incidents, while Poland and Moldova each recorded two. Nine other countries recorded one incident each: Switzerland, Spain, Slovenia, Romania, the Netherlands, Malta, Germany, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
India recorded the highest number of incidents, with 19, followed by South Korea with 16, Taiwan with 13, and Indonesia with seven. Together, these four countries accounted for 80% of all incidents recorded in Asia, showing that the region’s deepfake activity was heavily concentrated in a small number of countries. Oceania recorded only four incidents, with three in Australia and one in New Zealand.
Social media was the dominant distribution channel for election-related deepfakes, accounting for 84% of incidents in which a channel could be identified. News and broadcast media ranked second at 11%, while messaging apps, phone calls, and websites accounted for the remainder.
Among incidents for which a specific social media platform was identified, X, formerly Twitter, was mentioned most frequently, appearing in 49% of cases. TikTok followed at 29%, Facebook at 22%, Instagram at 12%, and YouTube at 7%.