Question

Farmers in France demonstrated next to the Eiffel Tower.

Comments

This image looks AI generated making me feel like this is fake, however, the French are prone to take extreme measures like this when it comes to protesting. So far, I haven't seen anyone openly discredit this post, but I would take this post with a grain of salt.

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This claim is false. This image has been proven to be AI generated. Multiple websites including Forbes.com, the journal.ie, and full fact.org have all debunked this claim. The original account that posted the images is an AI artist known for posting AI generated content. It can be really hard for users to disseminate what is AI generated vs not. These situation can be dangerous and skew public view of events. It is important to caption AI generated content with disclaimers that this content is fabricated. It is misleading to the public narrative.

Forbes put this into words well by saying; "But the rise of AI creation tools over the past two years have contributed to a flood of fake images on various websites. And people don’t necessarily have their guard up when browsing sites like X or Facebook to treat every image with skepticism."

Here are the links to the websites I viewed:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/02/04/viral-photo-of-farmers-protesting-in-paris-near-eiffel-tower-actually-fake/?sh=58924a1f4031

https://www.thejournal.ie/ai-image-paris-france-farmers-protest-damo-ivor-artificial-intelligence-6292539-Feb2024/

https://fullfact.org/online/eiffel-tower-hay-bales-artifical-intelligence-image/

Answer 1

The statement is false. Multiple websites have confirmed that the pictures are AI generated, but most notiably, Forbes said that "[The] account credits the image to an account called ifonly.ai, which shares AI-generated imagery."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/02/04/viral-photo-of-farmers-protesting-in-paris-near-eiffel-tower-actually-fake/?sh=511aa3754031

https://fullfact.org/online/farmer-protest-not-digging-up-road-to-paris/

Comments

Good job getting straight to the point. The picture is clearly AI-Generated and great job including more than one trust worthy website.

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Good factcheck. While this post is ai generated, after reading the comments, it seems like most people seeing the post believe that it is real. AI is proving to be something that can and will be used to create fake news and misleading information.

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I like how you kept it clear and concise and pointed out why it is true or not. The sources seem to be trustworthy as well and can therefore determine that is a fake picture.

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I really like how you included more than one link so that it is clear that you did your research into the photo.

Answer 2

The source is misinformation, the provided photos are AI according to multiple sources.

Comments

I don't think making a statement stating that the source is misinformation is good enough to prove that the claim is false.  I think providing some links to the multiple sources that said the photos are AI would help back up your claim.

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This account that posted this AI generated photo does not seem real or legitimate. I agree that searching for a source that states where this photo came from would help your claim.
https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/fact-check-photo-french-farmers-protest-eiffel-tower-ai-generated-2498888-2024-02-07

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To improve your fact check I think it would be beneficial to use sources to back up your ideas and use direct quotes. You could also use their sources to poke holes in their argument. I think that you could also elaborate more on why this claim is exaggerated/misleading to help educate others on this issue.

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Listing sources is a great way to verify or disprove the validity of the original claim as well as your own legitimacy! In the future maybe expand your analysis and follow your own claims up with sources-- how else can we know that you yourself aren't providing us with false info?

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What are your sources?

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This fack check would be more beneficial to use sources to back up your ideas and could use qoutes.

Answer 3

The original facebook post posted by Doug Sawtell shows the eiffel tower with haybales and tractors in front of it, and has the caption "french farmers by eiffel tower yesterday"

According to forbes the picture was first posted from an account on X called Gen. Reality. That account on X credits an account called ifonly.ai, which posts AI-generated imagery.

This photo is AI-Generated, which means it is false and misinformation. 

https://www.facebook.com/doug.sawtell/posts/pfbid02PQTrF7UwvL8iNVUfT3juqPVmqMpgY97oVkjEyLX7ye1rqkTqNderVCHVWDJRR5b9l

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/02/04/viral-photo-of-farmers-protesting-in-paris-near-eiffel-tower-actually-fake/?sh=26827f604031

https://twitter.com/WadeDav04301694/status/1753870536524890246

Comments

Great response on this! I like that you looked specifically into the account to figure out that it was AI-generated. I like the sources you provided as well and that you included 3 sources. Your answer was straight to the point while also explaining some context to the situation.

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Great job going through multiple sources to fact check. Sometimes it can be hard going down a rabbit hole of information trying to figure out what is right or wrong. You were able to go through a few sources in able to get to the point. Good job!

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This fact check was very helpful. It provided accurate information and explained that the source of this information is not credible. I also appreciate that there are multiple sources linked.

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That was a great response to the post. You added a lot of links to credible sources which was really good.

Answer 4

When doing some research on this fact check I have come to the conclusion that this image is a form of manipulated content. When doing research, I was able to find that this image was created using AI. According to Forbes, "The image shared in that tweet was created using artificial intelligence software...That account credits the image to an account called ifonly.ai, which shares AI-generated imagery...The infonly.ai account appears to be based in Paris and credits Midjourney as the tool used to create its fake images". When looking at the original post on Instagram, the creator thetrillionairelife said specifically in the comment section that "(Note: Photos are artificial and generated using Ai Midjourney)". Although there are protests currently going on between French farmers and the French government, these photos are truly false. Overall, these are AI created photos used as a way to manipulated the situation as well as draw eyes to the protest. 

Sources

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/02/04/viral-photo-of-farmers-protesting-in-paris-near-eiffel-tower-actually-fake/?sh=5be4a75a4031 

https://www.instagram.com/thetrillionairelife/p/C21H-cESyf_/?img_index=1

Comments

This fact-check does a good job of explaining the account that posted this AI-generated picture and its track record. I also liked how they included a quote by Forbes, a well-known source.

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I appreciate how deep into the account you went. You went into the type of AI tools it uses to identify this information as manipulated and altered, therefore it is fake. It shows you took the time to research the photo and subject well. Your sources are not the most credible, referring to the Instagram post, but they directly address the claim well.

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I like your fact check because you went into a detailed explanation of your research following the claim. The sources you provided as evidence against the false claim were very reliable and irrefutable. Great job debunking this misinformative claim.

Answer 5

This image is AI-generated, as admitted in its original post here. Forbes discusses this image being artificial, but the article cites an Instagram post that does not contain this image. The cited account might have once had the image, but I could not find it there. Forbes is considered by Ad Fontes Media to be center-biased and relatively reliable. India Today has also fact checked this and found the image to be fake.

The Facebook you have linked is not the first example of someone sharing this image and claiming it is from the very real farmers' protest in France. I found this tweet from February 1st, two days before the Facebook post. The account is an independent voter who shares their political opinion through memes (as well as other personal content). I am unsure if this was intentional disinformation as the account does not seem focused on spreading specifically false content or a specific opinion. 

Answer 6

This photo is fake.

Around 10,000 farmers are demonstrating a protest on French highways and moving in on Paris and Lyon. However, this photo in particular is false. AI generated intelligence software called, "ifonly.ai" created the image.

When considering the motives of creating this artificial image, it is clear that the farmers could risk the collapse of their protesting if the photo is believed to be true. This photo could be potentially damaging to the farmers in their protest, as officials regulating their activity could have the potential and authority to crack down on their movement if they pose a threat to the government. 

Answer 7

I followed the link included in this original post, and it led me to an AI-generated photo on Facebook. I knew right away that this was AI because there was a message on top of the photo that alerted me that it was not real. I understand that for a few months now, there have been real demonstrations made by Parisian farmers, but they haven't been to the extent of the linked photo. I included a link at the bottom of this post that highlights what has actually been going on in France, with real photos showing the protests. 

What has been happening in France is that French farmer's unions are protesting French and EU regulations. They have been blocking traffic with their tractors and dumping piles of manure and rotting produce in front of official government buildings. Their message is that they cannot earn a living due to cheap imports, a lack of subsidies, and increased production costs. Although these protests are real and have been very intense, the photo of hay bales stacked so high up in front of the Eiffel Tower are fake. 

https://www.vox.com/2024/2/3/24059767/french-farmers-protests-eu-brussels

Answer 8

This statement is clearly false and misleading. It is pretty clear that the photo is altered and most likely AI generated. The French farmers protesting methods have been widely shown on social media, gaining a lot of attention for their peculiar methods, such as spraying manure outside of government buildings. With that said, there has also been a lot of misinformation on their protests and events taken out of proportion. This Facebook post is clearly false, as even Facebook has flagged it as a misleading post. Before you even see the photo, Facebook informs you that it is false and has been flagged by fact-checkers. Which is a pretty early indication of its falsehood.  The Facebook account appears to be a personal account, where the user is reposting many political controversies. In addition, news sources like Forbes have reported about the false post, drawing even more attention to it. Other fact checking sources have also posted about this, proving that the photo is AI generated. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/02/04/viral-photo-of-farmers-protesting-in-paris-near-eiffel-tower-actually-fake/?sh=48dec2944031

https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/fact-check-photo-french-farmers-protest-eiffel-tower-ai-generated-2498888-2024-02-07

Comments

This is a strong fact check on this topic. Your use of sources is very valuable and you found very reliable sources. It is very impressive that you looked to facebook for information also, checking to see that it was flagged as a misleading claim.