Fact check: How fake images from Iran misled media outlets

"In early March, Dutch media reported that ANP (Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau), the country's largest news agency, removed roughly 1,000 Iran-related photos from its database after suspecting that some had been manipulated with AI. Two days later, the Dutch branch of the media network RTL reported that its news service, RTL Nieuws, had unknowingly used three of these images on its website and in its app."

"When RTL was alerted that photos it had used were AI-generated, it removed them and published a detailed explanation identifying which images had been taken down and why. Shortly afterward, German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel acknowledged that it had also used an AI-manipulated image in its coverage before realizing it was fake."

"In both cases, reputable news agencies had supplied the images. RTL received them through ANP, while Der Spiegel obtained them via dpa Picture Alliance, ddp, and Imago Images—all of which had sourced the material from the French agency Abaca Press. The images were ultimately traced back to an Iranian agency, SalamPix."

During the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, manipulated and fake images circulated through major photo agencies at unprecedented scale. Dutch news agency ANP removed approximately 1,000 Iran-related photos from its database after detecting AI manipulation. RTL Nieuws unknowingly published three of these images before ANP alerted them to the problem. German magazine Der Spiegel similarly used an AI-manipulated image in its coverage. The images originated from Iranian agency SalamPix and were distributed through Abaca Press to international agencies including dpa Picture Alliance, ddp, and Imago Images, eventually reaching newsrooms across Europe. This incident represents a significant escalation in misinformation during conflict coverage.

Read at www.dw.com