Truth or Fake

Social media has recently been abuzz with false rumours claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed in an Iranian missile strike. Vedika Bahl explores the viral claims around Netanyahu’s death and the continuing online speculation in this edition of Truth or Fake.

The war in Iran is not only being fought on the battlefield – it is also playing out online. Iran’s state media recently took a leaf out of the White House’s own social media playbook, mocking Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu with an AI-generated propaganda video styled like a LEGO animation. The clip suggested that Trump

Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has redoubled its efforts in disinformation warfare. Its methods have evolved, with more generative AI, more targeting of Ukraine’s allies, and increasing manipulation of real news stories. It’s therefore fitting that disinformation watchdog NewsGuard named a Russian tech bro, Yevgeny Shevchenko, its 2025 “Disinformer of the

Following Mexico’s military operation against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which killed Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes or El Mencho, AI-generated pictures and fake news flooded social media – not least, the rumour that the operation itself was carried out by the United States.

Following the latest file dump by the US Department of Justice, social media is flooded with discourse about Jeffrey Epstein. It’s triggered scores of conspiracy theories to resurface, including claims the convicted sex offender faked his death. Fake AI images went viral suggesting Epstein was alive and living in Israel, as well as claims his

The Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit raided the French offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday morning, as part of a probe into alleged offences including political interference, unlawful data extraction and sexualised deepfakes of women and children. Vedika Bahl goes through what we know so far, in this edition of Truth or

A Buddhist monk influencer has amassed millions of followers on social media, sharing spiritual guidance videos and selling e-books on healing. The catch is that he’s AI-generated. Vedika Bahl explains in this edition of Truth or Fake.

A Buddhist monk influencer has amassed millions of followers on social media, sharing spiritual guidance videos and selling e-books on healing. The catch is, he’s AI-generated. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.