Political Deepfakes Damage Reputations Even After Debunking

The finding from Communication Research reframes the entire fact-checking project: correction operates on belief, but deepfakes operate on impression. Voters who are told a video is fabricated still carry the emotional residue of having seen it — and that residue moves their candidate support in measurable ways. The means that debunking is not a remedy so much as a ceiling on how much more damage accumulates after exposure.