Debunking Venezuela Celebration Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.

Synthetic graphics purporting to show Nicolás Maduro under arrest following his capture by the American authorities have garnered countless of views on social media.

How Fake Pictures of the President Surfaced Within Hours

Initial fabricated AI image seemingly showing him being escorted off a aircraft emerged within hours. The graphic was unpublished by any authoritative American sources; rather, it was uploaded on X by an account describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.

Our analysis used Google’s SynthID, determining the image was created or altered with Google AI.

More AI-generated images started circulating in the following period, seemingly depicting different views of Maduro in custody. Visible logos on these images indicate they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.

The detection tool confirms all of these pictures were similarly created or altered Google AI.

Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Persisted

The former US president posted the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. But even after the authentic image was released, AI-generated pictures continued to spread but were updated to incorporate the gray sweatsuit seen on Maduro.

Online investigation show the new fake images were initially shared on TikTok by a digital art profile. Similarly, the AI-watermark detector confirms these further images were created or altered generative artificial intelligence.

Important Facts:

• Deepfakes gained traction after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
• The first fake image was shared within hours on platform X.
• Detection software like AI-watermark detectors helped to confirm the images as AI-generated.
• Fake images continued to circulate and be updated even after the publication of authentic images.
• The origin of many fakes was linked to specific online profiles dedicated to graphic design.