Did an authentic image show Bono and Bob Geldof waving Israeli flags? No, that's not true: AI detection tools found that the image was generated using AI technology. Also, the image came from a self-described "fake news" and "satire" account on X.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 17, 2024. It said:
Make songs about fighting against apartheid.. then openly support apartheid
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Dec 17 18:32:20 2024 UTC)
The account that posted the image did not provide any evidence it was real. A reverse image search using Google Lens (archived here) also did not produce results confirming that the photo took place in reality.
The earliest source for it is a self-described "fake news" and "topical satire" account (archived here) on X. The post (archived here) made on December 16, 2024, read:
BREAKING: Bono and Bob Geldof stage two-man vigil outside Israeli Embassy in Dublin
Created using AI
AI detection tool TrueMedia (archived here) found "substantial evidence" that the image was generated with AI:
(Source: truemedia.com screenshot taken on Tue Dec 17 18:32:58 2024 UTC)
Hive Moderation, another AI detection tool, concluded that the image was 98.9 percent "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content":
(Source: hivemoderation.com screenshot taken on Tue Dec 17 18:32:50 2024 UTC)
There is no evidence that the pair staged a vigil outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin. Searches of Google News (archived here) and Google (archived here) did not support that claim. This was also true of U2's Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Lead Stories contacted Bono and Geldof's respective publicists and will provide an update if a response is received.
Lead Stories has a Satire Policy published that explains when we fact check satire and when we don't:
What do we consider not to be satire?
Sometimes articles from humor or satire publications are copied by other sites and presented as real. In such cases we will label the copies as 'False.'
Read more
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on satire claims can be found here.
