Exposing Venezuelan Celebration Videos and AI Images of Maduro.
Synthetic images claiming to show Nicolás Maduro under arrest following his apprehension by the United States have gained many millions of impressions on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of Maduro Surfaced Within Hours
The first inauthentic AI image seemingly displaying him taken off a plane surfaced shortly after. The graphic was not shared any authoritative American sources; it was instead uploaded on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
We’ve checked Google’s SynthID, which found the picture was generated or edited with AI tools.
Additional AI-generated pictures were disseminated in the following period, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader in custody. Visible watermarks on these images show they originated from an Instagram profile named ultravfx.
SynthID confirms the further images were similarly created or altered AI technology.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Continued
Donald Trump shared the initial authentic image of Maduro restrained aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. However, despite this real photo was published, synthetic pictures kept circulating but were modified to incorporate the grey tracksuit seen on Maduro.
Reverse image searches indicate these altered fabrications were first posted on TikTok by a graphic design account. Similarly, the AI-watermark detector confirms these subsequent pictures were created or altered Google AI.
Important Facts:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly following the news of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake picture appeared on the same day on platform X.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to identify the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications persisted to spread and evolve even after the release of real photographs.
- The origin of many fakes was linked to social media profiles dedicated to AI art.
