AI-generated video showing people crying on the streets of Venezuela goes viralPublished at 13:01 GMT
Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Verified Senior Journalist
We previously examined a number of misleading videos claiming to show large-scale celebrations inside Venezuela in the wake of President Nicolas Maduro's detention last weekend by the United States. As we've discussed, the footage is either old or taken in places like Florida and Panama City.
However, we have also seen a number of AI-generated videos shared widely online that were used for a similar purpose, falsely claiming that there were mass celebrations in Venezuela over Maduro's abdication.
One video shared by Elon Musk, which has been viewed more than 5 million times on his Platform
We noticed multiple anomalies in the video, including unnatural movements and skin tones, incorrect flag patterns, strange car license plates and out-of-place side mirrors, and missing objects. The same video received 2 million views on TikTok before being removed.
Professor Hany Farid of cybersecurity firm GetReal Security said the video had enough anomalies consistent with AI generation to cast serious doubts on its authenticity.
Jacobo Castellanos, an AI expert at human rights group Witness, added: “We can confirm through local experts that this is not the situation on the ground since Maduro's imprisonment,” adding that armed groups are instead rampant on the streets.
