A Facebook video that has been viewed more than 1.7 million times appears to show two Muslim women interviewed on a Brighton beach saying there are “too many dogs” in Britain. However, this video is a fake created using artificial intelligence (AI).
In the video, two women wearing niqabs (head coverings that do not cover the eyes worn by some Muslim women) appear to speak into microphones on what appears to be a Brighton beach.
They argue that there are “too many dogs in the UK” and that “people should avoid beaches where Muslims relax. They should understand that dogs are not accepted in our religion and take them to dog parks instead of beaches.”
The caption read: “Breaking news: Dog declared haram at Brighton prom. Next week: Seagulls get fatwa for being too noisy. You can’t make this up.” The post has over 34,000 comments, many of whom seem to believe the video is real.
However, this video is not real. It was created by AI and was probably created to generate online engagement through a strategy known as “ragebait.” This strategy involves intentionally posting content designed to incite anger and outrage.
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We’ve found that both visuals and audio contain SynthID, an invisible watermark added to content created or edited with Google’s AI tools.
Although the presence of a watermark alone does not tell us whether AI was used to generate something entirely new or modify existing content, there are other clues that indicate the watermark was created by AI in this case.
Although the pier in the background resembles Brighton Pier, it does not match the view of the actual Brighton Palace Pier and is missing major rides such as the famous Helter Skelter.
There are other glitches in the background of the video, the quality is much lower, like dog walkers and their dogs disappearing in spots, and pets appearing to have more than four legs. There are also noticeable imperfections in the pebbles, especially in the lower left corner where one woman moves.
There are also signs that the audio was generated by AI, with one woman saying “Muslim” instead of Muslim.
The page sharing this clip also posted a number of other videos that appeared to be AI-generated, many of which appeared to be in the form of interviews.
Before sharing viral content like this, it’s important to consider whether it comes from a trusted source or is created to evoke a certain emotion. Our toolkit includes tips on how to do this and a guide to identifying AI-generated content.
