Overview
- Fact‑checking groups concluded the clip showing Palestinian and Jordanian flags at the top of the Eiffel Tower is digitally fabricated after visual forensics found mismatched tower sections, warped metal and people whose proportions do not match the structure.
- Multiple AI detection tools returned high likelihoods of synthesis, with Hive Moderation and SightEngine among those reporting strong AI signals and Meta’s detector also identifying AI signatures.
- The footage traced back to social uploads: an X post that circulated widely on Oct. 18 and an earlier Instagram upload by an account describing itself as an “audiovisual and AI content creator” that labeled the clip as unreal AI content.
- News searches by fact checkers found no credible reports or independent confirmation that flags were hoisted at the tower’s summit, and a separate May 15 incident showed a Palestinian flag on the tower’s first level not at the top.
- The case illustrates how generative AI can create convincing but false visual claims, so verifiers combine tool outputs with frame‑by‑frame checks and source tracing to stop misinformation from inflaming protests or misleading the public.