Fake clip appears to show Jacinda Ardern smoking crack being used by trolls after smoking ban 

A fake video claiming to show Jacinda Ardern smoking crack is being circulated on social media by people opposed to New Zealand‘s impending cigarette ban.

The doctored clip – known as a ‘deep fake’ – shows a woman who looks very similar to the prime minister puffing from a pipe with long acrylic nails.  

In a split screen, the top video shows Ms Ardern discussing issues such as homelessness and mental health at a 2019 event hosted by Bill Gates.

The bottom half appears to show her smoking, with text superimposed on the clip reading ‘Crack pipe?’ and ‘Such a role model’. 

A deep fake video claims to show New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern smoking either crack or cannabis, depending on which version you see

Facebook has tagged the video with a warning saying: ‘False information Checked by independent fact-checkers.’ 

But the video was also widely shared on other platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

It was created by a YouTube channel called Genuine Fake, which makes ‘deep fake’ videos based on New Zealand politicians and celebrities. 

Despite the giveaway name of the creator, some people were all too willing to believe the clip was real.

‘Hmmmm that’s worry. Whatever it is she certainly knows her way around it,’ wrote one person.

‘Explains why she’s looking so old these days,’ added another. 

Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has just introduced legislation that aims to end smoking in New Zealand

Though the ‘crack smoking’ video has been around for more than a year – it was initially titled ‘Jacinda Ardern Smokes Cannabis’ – it has gained popularity in the past week after Ms Ardern revealed that New Zealand is going to phase out smoking in the coming decades. 

People who are aged 14 and under today will never be legally able to buy tobacco. 

The new legislation means the legal smoking age will increase every year, to create a smoke-free generation of New Zealanders. 

The government announced the rising age alongside other measures to make smoking unaffordable and inaccessible, to try to reach its goal of making the country smoke-free by 2025. 

Other measures include lowering the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products, vastly reducing the number of outlets where cigarettes could legally be sold, and increasing funding to addiction services. 

New Zealand’s daily smoking rates have been steadily falling – down to 11.6 per cent in 2018, from 18 per cent a decade earlier. 

But smoking rates for Maori and people from Pacific Islands background were much higher – 29 per cent for Maoria and 18 per cent for Pacific Islanders.