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World

Trump's second-term playbook: Fake news, AI and attacks on his critics

US President Donald Trump could be credited with popularising the term "fake news", but his own presidency has been riddled with numerous false claims, conspiracy theories and misleading content. In this special fact-checking segment, Vedika Bahl examines his Trump's second term: his consistent attacks on political opponents, use of AI-generated images to glorify himself and push political narratives, and what happens when journalists challenge him.

World

Ukraine and Russia report fake emergency alerts after cyberattacks target apps

Authorities in Ukraine and Russia said their emergency alert mobile apps had been targeted by cyberattacks, with users in Ukraine receiving false warnings of an imminent nuclear threat. Moscow said that hackers had sent fake emergency alerts after gaining access to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s mobile app, and that efforts were ongoing to restore the app's functionality.

World

'Five churches set on fire by Muslims?' Fake news by Islamophobic social media accounts

Several social media accounts associated with sharing anti-immigrant views claim French Muslims were responsible for burning five churches on October 17 – the day the nation was rocked by en masse protests. But both this number and story are fictitious. The French government agency that monitors religious heritage sites confirmed only one fire in a church occured in recent days; its cause unknown.

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World

‘I’m alive’: Paris street medic isn’t dead, despite viral claims he was killed by police

A video showing French riot police violently beating a 26-year-old street medic in Paris has gone viral, with social media users falsely claiming he died from his injuries. But the street medic is alive, and spoke to FRANCE 24. The rumour was fuelled by confusion with a separate incident that same day: a man died of cardiac arrest in the same area, causing online users to conflate the two events. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

World

Fake AI images of protester go viral after woman punched at Trump's Ohio rally

A protester who heckled Donald Trump at his midterm rally in Youngstown, Ohio, was physically assaulted and removed from the event, but fake AI-generated photos recreating the incident are going viral online. The images carry digital watermarks identifying them as AI-generated. While footage confirms the woman was punched, there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that the protester was "paid" to disrupt his speech, as he mocked the protester's weight. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

World

Have Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centres hit Russian online disinformation?

After recent Ukrainian bombings of Russian data centres belonging to Yandex, internet users claim to have noticed a sharp reduction in pro-Russian and far-right populist social media content. They suggest the reduction is a direct result of the strikes cutting off Russian disinformation "bots". We examine the claim in this edition of Truth or Fake.

World

AI deepfake of BBC report falsely links Indians to FlyDubai hijacking attempt

False videos are circulating after the attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv. One fake "BBC" report falsely claims an Indian passenger was behind the incident and links him to the stabbed pilot, Smit Machchhar. The video though, is an AI-generated deepfake: the BBC never broadcast it, and its footage and audio were doctored. A second clip was also misrepresented and filmed in Dubai, not over where the incident occurred. Vedika Bahl fact-checks in Truth or Fake.

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