Does a video authentically show climbers hoisting a Ukrainian flag on the torch of the Statue of Liberty in New York? No, that's not true: The video was created using AI according to the caption added by the account that originally posted it. The torch held by the statue in the video looks markedly different from the one held by the actual Statue of Liberty in New York.
A cropped copy of the video, presumably to hide the origin, appeared in a viral post on X (archived here) on March 4, 2025 with a caption that read::
Fuck yeah!!!! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
This is what the video looked like:
Fuck yeah!!!! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/u37z0sbiKT
-- Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) March 4, 2025
However the full video (archived here) was uploaded to TikTok on March 2, 2025 with a caption that read:
The AI video opens with a sweeping aerial view of the Statue of Liberty, standing majestically against the backdrop of a clear blue sky. Climbers, visible on the statue's crown, are carefully lowering a Ukrainian flag, its blue and yellow colors vivid in the sunlight. The helicopter camera captures the entire scene, circling gracefully around the statue. The vast expanse of New York Harbor stretches out below, with the city skyline faintly visible in the distance. The atmosphere is solemn and respectful. #ukraine #slavaukraine #aivideo #sora #Thedayafter #flag #statueofliberty #statue #liberty #flagsonstatueofliberty
The torch held aloft by the statue in the video looks different between shots:
(Image: screenshots taken by Lead Stories on March 6, 2025 at 12:17:55 UTC)
Both shots completely lack the flame of the real Statue of Liberty in New York:
AskALotl, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Online AI detection tool Hive Moderation determined that the video was 85.6 percent likely "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content," as shown in the screenshot below:
(Image source: Hive results obtained by Lead Stories on March 6, 2025 at 12:26:48 UTC)
