Apply a verification workflow to assess whether suspect content is synthetic before responding.
Public Relations & Media
Deepfake and Synthetic Media Risk Response for Communicators
Build detection, verification and rapid response protocols for deepfakes and synthetic media that target an organisation's leaders or brand.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A fabricated video of a chief executive announcing news that never happened can reach more people in the first hour than a verified correction reaches in a full day, and the first mistake many communicators make is either ignoring the risk for too long or confirming a clip is fake without actually checking first. This course builds a practical risk response capability for synthetic media incidents, starting with a verification workflow that checks a suspicious clip or image against technical, contextual and source indicators before any public statement is drafted. Participants learn how deepfake and voice-cloning content is currently produced and distributed, so they recognise the patterns without needing technical expertise in the underlying models, and they map the platform reporting and takedown routes available for impersonation and manipulated media. The course covers the legal and regulatory context communicators should be aware of, including transparency expectations for AI-generated content introduced under frameworks such as the EU AI Act, and works through the judgement call of responding publicly without repeating or linking to the synthetic content itself. It closes with building a standing protocol that names who verifies, who approves a public response, and how executives and employees are supported when their own voice or likeness has been used without consent.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Recognise current patterns in how deepfake and voice-cloned content is produced and spread.
Map platform reporting and takedown routes for impersonation and manipulated media.
Draft a rapid public response to synthetic media without amplifying the original content.
Explain relevant transparency expectations for AI-generated content under current regulation.
Coordinate a verification and response decision between communication, legal and security teams.
Build a standing protocol supporting executives and employees whose likeness has been misused.
Who Should Attend
Corporate communication and PR professionals responsible for reputation and crisis response.
Executive assistants and security teams protecting senior leaders' public identity.
Social media and digital teams who are often first to spot suspicious viral content.
Legal and brand protection teams handling impersonation and intellectual property concerns.
Crisis communication consultants advising clients on emerging synthetic media risk.
Trust and safety or platform policy professionals working alongside communication teams.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Understanding the Synthetic Media Threat
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1How Deepfakes Are Produced and Spread
- Explain, in non-technical terms, how current tools generate synthetic video, audio and images.
- Identify the distribution patterns that let synthetic content spread before it is challenged.
- Recognise the executive and brand impersonation formats most commonly used against organisations.
- Distinguish satire and clearly labelled parody from content intended to deceive.
Session 2Regulatory and Platform Context
- Explain transparency expectations for AI-generated content introduced under frameworks such as the EU AI Act.
- Identify platform policies on synthetic and manipulated media relevant to reporting a fake.
- Understand where legal routes, such as impersonation or defamation claims, may apply.
- Map internal stakeholders, including legal and security, who must be involved in a response.
02Verifying Suspected Synthetic Content
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Building a Verification Workflow
- Apply a checklist of technical indicators that suggest content may be synthetically generated.
- Check source, upload history and distribution pattern for signs the content is fabricated.
- Consult trusted technical or fact-checking partners when internal verification is inconclusive.
- Document the verification process to support any later platform report or legal action.
Session 2Deciding Whether and How to Respond
- Weigh the risk of amplification against the risk of silence for a given piece of content.
- Decide the appropriate response tier, from monitoring only to a full public statement.
- Avoid describing or linking to the synthetic content in ways that help it spread further.
- Brief affected executives or employees before any public statement is issued.
03Responding and Reporting
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Drafting the Public Response
- Draft a rapid statement that addresses the fabrication without repeating its false claims.
- Choose channels and timing for the response based on where the content is spreading.
- Coordinate a consistent response across owned, earned and social channels.
- Prepare spokespeople to answer media questions about the incident without speculating on origin.
Session 2Platform Reporting and Takedown
- Identify the correct reporting route for impersonation or synthetic media on each major platform.
- Prepare the evidence a platform typically requires to action a takedown request quickly.
- Track the status of takedown requests and escalate delays through available channels.
- Coordinate with legal counsel when a takedown request needs to be paired with formal notice.
04Building a Standing Protocol
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Protecting Executives and Employees
- Design a support process for individuals whose voice or likeness has been used without consent.
- Brief executives on reducing exposure, such as limiting easily cloned voice samples in public content.
- Agree internal communication so employees hear the facts before external rumours circulate.
- Set confidentiality boundaries when an affected individual's personal wellbeing is also at stake.
Session 2Sustaining Readiness
- Name the roles responsible for verification, approval and platform reporting before an incident occurs.
- Run a tabletop exercise using a realistic synthetic media scenario to test the protocol.
- Review platform policy and detection tool changes on a regular cycle to keep the protocol current.
- Update the protocol after each real incident with lessons on timing and effectiveness.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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