Waves of Misleading and Altered Visuals Surface on Social Media During Maduro's Detainment

Following the former Venezuelan leader’s reported capture, a surge of AI-crafted images, aged footage, and tampered photographs swept across social platforms, swiftly becoming viral and contributing to misinformation spreading online.

CBS News delved into the circulating visuals, employing comparison techniques with authenticated media and utilizing openly accessible tools like reverse image search. The news outlet sometimes also used AI detection tools, which, although unreliable at times, served as a hint towards possible content manipulation.

Social Platforms Overflow with AI-Rendered Images of Maduro

Post President Trump's early Saturday disclosure of Maduro’s capture, speculations abounded regarding the extraction process, subsequent destinations for Maduro, and implications for Venezuela’s political future. Amidst this, AI-generated or altered images of Maduro gained significant traction online, amassing millions in views and thousands of shares.

Vince Lago, the mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, along with two influential conservative social media accounts, widely distributed a photo—allegedly showcasing Maduro post-capture—that CBS News, upon examination with Google's SynthID tool, determined was likely digitally altered or AI-generated.

A derivative video of the purported photo, showing Maduro being escorted by military personnel from an aircraft, emerged online at about 6:30 a.m., several hours before CBS News confirmed a shackled individual disembarked a plane thought to be carrying Maduro, confirming their arrival at a Brooklyn federal facility later that day.

Relics from the Past Resurface

Alongside AI creations, aging clips and photographs reappeared under the guise of current events linked to Maduro’s detention and activities in Caracas. Notably, a video depicting individuals dismantling a billboard of Maduro was traced back to July 2024.

Another circulated image showing a hooded man in a vehicle’s back seat spurred debates on its association with Maduro’s capture. While numerous users doubted its relevance to Maduro, the post garnered significant engagement, reaching 30,000 likes and over a thousand shares. The Daily Mail had earlier reported the photo as Saddam Hussein captured with a Delta Force operative, a claim CBS has yet to independently verify.

Inquiries to X and Meta about their guidelines on AI-crafted imagery remain unanswered, although X indicates it might tag synthetic and manipulated media, and Meta prohibits AI technologies fostering misinformation or disinformation.