Emotive Deepfakes in Israel-Hamas War Further Cloud What’s Real
Bogus images include destroyed buildings, children in rubble
Palestinians in the rubble of destroyed buildings hit by Israeli missiles in the center of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. The proliferation of deepfake images on social media has raised doubts about real images.
Photographer: Ahmad Salem/BloombergAn image of a bloodied corpse. A photo of a crying baby edited to look as if it were lying in rubble. Shots of what at first appears to be an entire neighborhood leveled in Gaza.
There’s little doubt that deepfakes—images and videos digitally altered and spread to form false narratives—have been deployed by both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas. Many of them have the hallmarks of content created by generative AI tools.
What’s less clear is whether the images are swaying the masses on social media or influencing decisions.