Cascade of A.I. Fakes About War With Iran Causes Chaos Online; The New York Times, March 13, 2026

 Stuart A. Thompson and Alexander Cardia, The New York Times; Cascade of A.I. Fakes About War With Iran Causes Chaos Online

"A torrent of fake videos and images generated by artificial intelligence have overrun social networks during the first weeks of the war in Iran.

The videos — showing huge explosions that never happened, decimated city streets that were never attacked or troops protesting the war who do not exist — have added a chaotic and confusing layer to the conflict online.

The New York Times identified over 110 unique A.I.-generated images and videos from the past two weeks about the war in the Middle East. The fakes covered every aspect of the fighting: They falsely depicted screaming Israelis cowering as explosions ripped through Tel Aviv, Iranians mourning their dead and American military vessels bombarded with missiles and torpedoes.

Collectively, they were seen millions of times online through networks like X, TikTok and Facebook, and countless more times within private messaging apps popular in the region and around the world."

Russia shares AI images of Hurricane Milton as disinformation abounds in US; The Guardian, October 10, 2024

 Ben Makuch, The Guardian; Russia shares AI images of Hurricane Milton as disinformation abounds in US

"On Thursday morning, pictures were circulating on X, formerly Twitter, showing a flooded promenade at Disney World in Orlando with the Cinderella castle at its center.

“Hurricane Milton has flooded Disney World in Orlando,” wrote one known vector of disinformation on X, with the photos, which X users immediately noted was probably created using an automated AI image creator. The post has already been viewed over 300,000 times.

Other versions of the same, allegedly deceptive post were also translated into Spanish and other languages then spread across X. The platform has added a warning indicating the images are AI-generated fakes.

Still, that didn’t stop RIA Novosti, one of Russia’s top state-owned news agencies from reposting the images to its official Telegram channel."