WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A video shows thousands of people lining the streets at a March for Australia anti-immigration protest.
OUR VERDICT
False. The video appears to be created using artificial intelligence and does not match news coverage from the day.
AAP FACTCHECK - A video supposedly showing heaving crowds at a recent immigration protest in Australia is fake and likely made with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI).
The video, shared on Instagram, shows what seems to be an enormous crowd marching down a wide avenue and waving Australian flags.
"Nationalism is BACK BABY!" text overlaying the video reads, with the caption: "Nationalism Is Back! It will soon spread!"
The video first appeared on TikTok, where the user made reference to the date of the "March for Australia" protests, August 31, 2025.
It has also been widely shared on X, including by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Several AI giveaways are apparent in the clip, however, including a lack of detail in people's facial features and overly smooth motions.
Some of the figures shown seem to appear multiple times, and although the flags move uniformly in a breeze, none of the leaves on the trees are moving.
A reverse image search using Google Images also identifies the video as "Made with Google AI".
The Instagram video doesn't match other video and photographs taken on the day, with footage from Sydney by Seven News and Melbourne by Nine News showing significantly smaller crowds.
Photos of the protests by AAP photographers show large groups but nowhere near the scale seen in the viral video.
According to reported police estimates, about 15,000 people participated in marches in both Sydney and Adelaide, with smaller crowds in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
The city shown in the video does not appear to resemble any of the major Australian cities where the marches took place.
A reverse image search of a screenshot of the buildings shown in the video also doesn't identify the city, with broadly similar streets or buildings found in Buenos Aires, Paris, Barcelona, Milan and Washington DC.
The TikTok account has also posted several videos attacking the Australian government that are clearly generated by AI as well.
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.
