WHAT WAS CLAIMED
An image shows the crash site where Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother died.
OUR VERDICT
False. The image bears no resemblance to the actual crash site shown in authentic news reports.
AAP FACTCHECK - A Facebook account is pumping out fake news and AI-generated images in a bid for clicks.
The page, which is spreading misinformation among its 15,000 followers, regularly posts about celebrity deaths, US politics and disasters - most of which are entirely fabricated.
The account appears to have belonged to a French Polynesian outrigger canoeing team, with all content pre-October 2024 appearing in French and exclusively concerning the sport.
It appears the page has since been hacked, with the account now controlled from Vietnam, according to the page's details.
All posts are now in English, and there has been no mention of the sport for several months.
However, those now in control of the page have kept the original account name and profile image.
AAP FactCheck reached out to the original operators of the page but did not receive a response by publication.
Analysis shows the fake content is particularly spreading in the Pacific region.
One common theme of the new content is purported celebrity deaths.
The posts typically show an image of a celebrity with a caption suggesting they have died. Users are then prompted to visit an external website to find out more.
One example hints at the death of the actress Jennifer Lopez.
"20 minutes ago in Chicago, Jennifer Lopez has been confirmed as….See more," the caption reads alongside an image of a car wreck and an embedded picture of Lopez.
The external website cites "unverified sources" that claim "something serious" has happened to the American singer.
However, Lopez is alive and well and currently on tour in Europe.
Another post suggests actor Will Smith has died, coincidentally in the same wreckage as Lopez, if the post is to be believed.
However, the Oscar winner is also alive and performed in Germany after the post made the false claim.
Another post suggests Simon Cowell, from America's Got Talent, has died in a car crash.
However, the image of the crash is from a November 2023 news article about a high-speed chase, which resulted in seven deaths in Texas.
Cowell was not among the dead and he appeared on the set of America's Got Talent after the Facebook post was published.
Another post purports to show the scene of a crash in which Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, lost their lives.
However, the image, which appears to be AI-generated, bears no resemblance to the actual crash site in northern Spain.
Other posts purport to show images and videos of disasters.
One video supposedly shows a boat flipping in dramatic fashion. A reverse image search shows the video is based on a photo from a 2017 news report about a speedboat disaster.
The video has clear indications it is AI-manipulated, including the unnatural movement of the boat in the foreground and the disappearance of the larger vessel in the background.
Another video claims to show the aftermath of a car crash. The sudden appearance of smoke midway through the video, along with the merging of various blurry rescue workers indicates it is also AI-generated.
Users are urged to find out more via a link in the comments. This directs to an external site which has lifted material from a genuine report about a landslide by a Canadian news outlet.
The Facebook page also ventures into US politics, including a post which claims to show an image of Donald Trump visiting victims of the recent floods in Texas.
"Trump and Sen. Kennedy appeared in Texas!" the post reads.
"As hundreds of thousands of people were struggling with the raging waters of the historic flood, an action by Trump and Kennedy moved them to tears, honoring the greatness of true heroes!".
One of the images in the post depicts Mr Trump in a black rain jacket, waving to the public while wading through floodwaters.
No genuine news outlets have published the supposed image of Mr Trump.
There are also indications it is AI-generated, including the man in the background who appears to have hands with a mismatched skin tone.
It also appears the AI used to create the image has been confused by the prompt, with the face of Mr Trump seemingly a mix of the US President and the aforementioned senator John Kennedy.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
