Why do people think Benjamin Netanyahu has died?
Social media platforms have been flooded with the wild rumour that Benjamin Netanyahu is dead (which he is not).
Fake photos and videos of his body, coated with dust and debris, seemed to show that the Israeli prime minister had been killed – during the US-Israel war with Iran – in an Iranian air strike.
The rumour was false – Netanyahu had not died, nor been involved in a strike. The photos and videos were AI-generated. But when Netanyahu posted several videos of himself, debunking and mocking the rumour, some people on social media still refused to believe these were really him.
Today on The Global Story podcast, Thomas Copeland from BBC Verify explains how the economics of social media drive the creation of AI-generated fake videos – sometimes by people with no strong feelings about the war itself.
And we speak to Peter Pomerantsev, author of ‘Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible’, who says the essential strategy behind wartime disinformation remains unchanged since ancient times.
New episodes of The Global Story are released daily. If you’re in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds. If you live outside the UK, listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:55 When the rumour of Netayahu’s death start?
05:21 Where did the rumour originate from?
07:00 Why do people believe that Netanyahu is dead?
13:00 How do you verify what’s real and what’s fake?
16:30 When has misinformation changed the course of a war?
18:00 The misinformation surrounding the US-Israel war with Iran
22:30 Could AI change future conflicts?