Facebook removes page after William Shatner blasts ‘horrible’ AI-generated ‘fake news’ posts about him
Facebook took action against a page sharing AI-generated content after William Shatner spoke out against it online.
The Star Trek veteran shared a post on X on Thursday warning his fans about fake news stories about him that were circulating on Meta’s social media platform.
“There is a page on @facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me,” Shatner alleged. “The page is by The Beanstalk Functions Group which is allegedly an Event Planner in South Africa.”
Shatner explained, “They have created stories that say I have stage 4 brain cancer, was in some kind of fight with Erika Kirk and that I’m dying. All their stories are monetized.”
William Shatner in New York City on Sept. 6, 2018
Credit: Santiago Felipe/Getty
The Boston Legal star wrote that he contacted Facebook about the issue, but claimed that “Facebook Support will not remove the page.” He also said the Facebook posts all link back to a website hosted by Next.js, a web development platform, and that he reached out to the CEO of the platform’s parent company to ask him “to remove these fake stories.”
A representative for Facebook parent company Meta tells Entertainment Weekly, “This page has been removed for violating our policies.” As of Thursday afternoon, the Beanstalk Functions Group page is no longer accessible on Facebook.
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Next.js parent company Vercel and the Beanstalk Functions Group for comment on Shatner’s remarks. The email address previously listed on Beanstalk’s Facebook page does not appear to be an active address or domain, and the company does not seem to have a website.
“None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money,” Shatner said.
The actor continued, “This is the downside of AI and yellow journalism. While [it] can be a wonderful tool in the right hands; it can be used as a weapon in the wrong hands. If you see a bizarre story about me; unless you see it posted on one of my verified accounts take it with a grain of salt.”
Shatner also noted that he wanted to share his warning on Wednesday, but delayed his message because it was April Fools’ Day. “I wanted to put this out yesterday but given the day and the possibility that it would look like a joke I waited for today,” he said.
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In another post, Shatner shaded the people who fell for the fake images and stories about him. “You would be surprised at how many of my ‘fans’ believed the images are of me,” he wrote.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
