Truth or Fake

Israel's far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is using AI-generated videos to mock Palestinians and push political messages ahead of the Israeli general election, including videos magically transporting Gazans to Paris or calling them "donkeys" for choosing to stay. One video has sparked an online spat with France. Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in the campaign, with parties using deepfakes, bots and AI-generated content, raising concerns about disinformation and the technology's influence on voters.

US President Donald Trump and his inner circle are using unrest in France to push unsubstantiated claims blaming the riots on immigration, even showing French protest footage at midterm rallies. But there is no evidence linking immigration to the unrest, and it's prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to accuse world leaders of making "stupid comments" at France's expense. Trump's focus comes as Republicans face mounting pressure ahead of the midterms and his approval rating hits a reported record low.

A video showing French riot police violently beating a 26-year-old street medic in Paris has gone viral, with social media users falsely claiming he died from his injuries. But the street medic is alive, and spoke to FRANCE 24. The rumour was fuelled by confusion with a separate incident that same day: a man died of cardiac arrest in the same area, causing online users to conflate the two events. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

AI-generated photos falsely claiming to show an elderly couple being "stripped and robbed" during unrest in France have racked up millions of views. Amplified by far-right accounts, the images fuelled inflammatory claims about Muslims, Jews and the riots. The FRANCE 24 Observers traced one image to an AI photomontage published by a pro-Israel account. The images were created using OpenAI tools, and the alleged assault remains unverified, with no official reports confirming the attack.

A protester who heckled US President Donald Trump at his midterm rally in Youngstown, Ohio, was physically assaulted and removed from the event, but fake AI-generated photos recreating the incident are going viral online. The images carry digital watermarks identifying them as AI-generated. While footage confirms the woman was punched, there is no evidence to support Trump's claim that the protester was "paid" to disrupt his speech, as he mocked her weight. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

US President Donald Trump has sparked outrage after sharing the distressing footage of a 23-year-old man with mental illness being fatally mauled by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the UK, captioned "Don't ever mess with nature!" This was followed hours later by an AI-generated video of himself taming a tiger. The posts have been condemned as disrespectful to the victim and his grieving family, who have urged people to stop sharing harrowing content of the attack. Vedika Bahl tells us more.

After recent Ukrainian bombings of Russian data centres belonging to Yandex, internet users claim to have noticed a sharp reduction in pro-Russian and far-right populist social media content. They suggest the reduction is a direct result of the strikes cutting off Russian disinformation "bots". We examine the claim in this edition of Truth or Fake.

As Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport suffers a string of deadly attacks, claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, a slew of AI-generated or decontextualised videos and photos have been circulating on social media, purporting to show the strikes of the last few days. We take a closer look in Truth or Fake.

France's student protests have sparked a wave of misleading content online. A viral TikTok falsely claimed the French army had deployed an armoured vehicle against protesters, when it was actually returning to a nearby military base. Other posts recycle 2023 footage of retirement protests as current events, while an AI-generated image was falsely presented as showing a police officer being attacked. Vedika Bahl examines how old, out-of-context and AI-generated content is fuelling misinformation. 

The White House has promoted "Trump TV" using an AI-altered photo of passengers apparently watching the president's new streaming channel. But the image was originally posted online in February 2023, showing passengers watching the NFL Super Bowl, with one watching the film "Hitch". The original photo was modified using AI to make it appear as if the passengers were watching Trump TV. The post did not discalose that the image had been altered. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.