Deepfakes

Does a video circulating on social media show a CNN report with President Joe Biden speaking about oil smuggling in Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela? No, that's not true: The video clip is not authentic. This exact clip is available from a celebrity voice-generating app. This clip featuring the likeness of Joe Biden has an AI-generated voice delivering a customizable…

Did France 24 report that French President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a visit to Ukraine over fears of an assassination attempt? No, that's not true: France 24 debunked the claim. The video purporting to show the network report the news is a deepfake, generated by AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on…

Does a government health poster list "heart attacks," "strokes" and "sudden death" as side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, as shown in an Instagram post? No, that's not true: It is counterfeit. Though it was made to look like official Irish government health circulars, the Irish government never published a poster listing those as side effects. Additionally, there is no…

Does a picture accurately show President Joe Biden sitting in a meeting with military leaders while wearing military fatigues? No, that's not true: The image is fake and is an AI-generated image, according to an online detection tool. No such genuine photo of the president in fatigues during a meeting with leaders of the military exists as of this writing.…

Is Taylor Swift giving away free $1,000 Visa gift cards? No, that's not true: A video on social media that shows footage of Swift has an artificially generated version of her voice making the claim about the give-away. In the original video of Swift from a 2020 interview, she never says she is giving away Visa gift cards. The claim…

Does a viral video show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dancing in a red suit? No, that's not true: The footage of a different person was altered to add Zelenskyy's face. The dance in question was performed by a man from the Russian city of Lipetsk. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Instagram on January 14, 2024.…

Is a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump sitting next to each other on a private jet an authentic picture? No, that's not true: The image of the financier convicted of prostitution crimes and the former president of the United States is not authentic. It is an AI-generated image, as an online detection tool showed. Epstein and Trump were…

Was Donald Trump's real voice used in a video endorsing a documentary warning that 300 million Americans will die in an attack on the power grid in a matter of weeks? No, that's not true: There is no proof that Trump ever made the statements in the video. A search of Trump's campaign website and of Google's index of thousands…

Did U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say that a ceasefire is when "somebody sees a fire"? No, that's not true: This is a deepfake video originating from a meme account that identified it as such with a "deepfake" hashtag. The voice track that mimics the voice of Ocasio-Cortez was added over a video clip taken from a livestream posted by the…

Did U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggest that Elon Musk go to the sun to study climate change? No, that's not true: The audio and the visual backdrop of this video clip have been digitally altered. In the real interview that this footage was taken from, on the CBS program "Face the Nation," Ocasio-Cortez did not speak about sending Musk to…

Did climate activist Greta Thunberg advocate for "biodegradable missiles" in an interview with the BBC? No, that's not true: A clip that circulated on social media in October 2023 featured altered audio from an BBC interview in 2022 in which Thunberg discussed climate change. Nowhere in the original interview did Thunberg mention "biodegradable missiles" or other claims that were included…

Is an image of cheering Atlético Madrid soccer team fans with a giant Palestinian flag authentic? No, that's not true: A representative for the sports team was quoted as saying that this image was not authentic. An AI image detector site rated the image 99.9 percent likely to be AI generated. Lead Stories could not find an article from a…

Did President Joe Biden announce the reintroduction of the draft? No, that's not true: A video showing such a purported announcement was created using artificial intelligence. An online outlet created this video using AI, describing the clip as "AI imagines what would happen if Biden declares and activates the Selective Service Act ..." If such an announcement had actually been…

Did BBC News broadcast "breaking" news that Elon Musk has a new trading app that will allow Britons to make so much money that they won't have to work anymore? No, that's not true: The BBC's website includes no such report and the footage of Musk is from an appearance at the World Government Summit on February 15, 2023. He…

Did Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre endorse a "QuantumAI" platform? No, that's not true: The video showing Poilievre speaking has been doctored to make it appear he is extolling the virtues of a money-making program that shares the name Quantum AI, a cryptocurrency-trading platform. The original footage of Poilievre dates from a March 2023 interview he gave to…

Do images in a social media post show rapper Boosie celebrating Pride Day in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana? No, that's not true: These pictures have been created using artificial intelligence. An AI content detector assessed that there is a 99.5 percent chance that these images were likely to be AI-generated. A Google News search also did not find reports that…

Did a homophobic man from Florida shoot his male doctor twice in the chest because he had an orgasm during a prostate exam? No, that's not true: This 'Florida man' article is fictional and was published by the now-defunct fake news and satire website Bok Daily on September 7, 2020. The images of the two men included in the original…

Did Senator Rand Paul show up to work at the U.S. Capitol barefoot wearing a red bathrobe as an apparent comment on a change to the Senate's dress code? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image. The poster of this on X admitted that this is a picture made by artificial intelligence. The X user who originally made…

Did former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson perform a Nazi salute while standing in front of a controversial flag when he was visiting Ukraine? No, that's not true: This photo has been digitally altered. Johnson received an honorary doctorate, known as Doctor Honoris Causa, at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. The original photo of the event does not show…

Did the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) reveal in August 2023 that the wildfires in Hawaii were caused by a "weather weapon" developed by the U.S. government? No, that's not true: The claim is part of a Chinese disinformation campaign. Additionally, there is no credible information or evidence to suggest that the wildfires in Hawaii were caused by such a…