What was claimed
Videos show migrants in small boats attempting to cross the English Channel and arriving in the UK.
our verdict
error. The video is not real, it is created by AI.
A video shared on Facebook showing illegal migrants arriving in the UK on a small boat has been said to have been generated by AI.
One video shows six men wearing life jackets sitting in a small boat floating alongside a large Border Force boat emblazoned with the Union Jack. The text of the video reads, “Breaking news. Official ‘good morning’ welcome to illegal crossings.” It will just add five more to your UK tax bill. ”
Both the audio and visual of the video contain SynthID, a digital watermark added to content created or modified by Google’s AI tools.
Another video, which appears to show men in a small boat drifting alongside a British Border Force boat, was also reportedly created with Google AI, as were two other videos, both of which showed men getting out of a small boat on the shore and receiving instructions from officers.
There are some visual clues that these too are AI-generated. For example, in this video, the text next to the second boat says “Burder Force,” but the life jacket of the man jumping off the boat in this video has changed.
Text overlaid on one of these videos reads: “Britain’s borders. The reality that British media won’t show you.” [sic]the Facebook caption reads, “Another day, another ship has landed on British shores. The legal process will take years, but the English Channel remains wide open. What’s the solution to this?”
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Hundreds of people have crossed the Channel in small boats in recent days, but these videos are not authentic.
Before sharing such clips, first consider whether they come from verifiable and trustworthy sources. Our guide to identifying AI content and our toolkit on how to identify malicious information can help you do this.
