France riots: AI photos falsely depict elderly couple ‘stripped and robbed’

AI-generated photos falsely claiming to show an elderly couple being “stripped and robbed” during unrest in France have racked up millions of views. Amplified by far-right accounts, the images fuelled inflammatory claims about Muslims, Jews and the riots. The FRANCE 24 Observers traced one image to an AI photo montage published by a pro-Israel account. The images were created using OpenAI tools, and the alleged assault remains unverified, with no official reports confirming the attack.

Two AI-generated photos falsely claiming to show an elderly couple in their 80s being “stripped and robbed” during unrest in France have racked up millions of views online. The images spread widely on X, particularly among far-right accounts. Some users described them as “the most horrific image of October 17th”, while others claimed they showed that “France has fallen” and warned that the rest of Europe and the UK would be next.

Several accounts also claimed the couple were Jewish, accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of failing “the Israeli people” and comparing the alleged attack to a 1941 pogrom in Ukraine.

American far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones also shared one of the fake images, blaming the alleged violence on “criminal consortium of Muslims and communists, who are unified by their hatred of the west and white people”.

The images did not only circulate on social media. French digital media outlet Sirenes shared one on Instagram, while Israeli right-wing news channel C14 published it under the headline “Islam Conquers Europe”.

However, both images are AI-generated.

The FRANCE 24 Observers confirmed their artificial origin using SynthID, an invisible digital watermark designed to help identify AI-generated content. Both images were detected as having been created using OpenAI tools.

There are also several visual clues that point to manipulation in one of the photos. The woman’s hand appears to have only four fingers, with an enlarged, deformed thumb. Two masked heads are visible despite there being only one body, while a bollard lying on the ground does not resemble the type typically found in Paris.

With the help of the European Broadcasting Union’s Spotlight network and Belgium’s RTBF fact-checking team, FRANCE 24’s Observers traced the source of the image: a montage published late on October 17 by the pro-Israel account Infos-Israel.news. The montage contained several AI-generated images and was flagged as AI content.

The same white border visible around the image in the original montage also appears in posts circulating on X, indicating that the photo was lifted and re-shared directly from that collection.

But while the images are fake, what about the underlying claim that an elderly couple was assaulted?

The allegation gained traction after French journalist Dominique Rizet said on air on BFM that an elderly couple had been attacked in Paris, citing a police source. His report was subsequently picked up by other media outlets, though no official photos or sources confirmed the alleged assault.

FRANCE 24 contacted Rizet, who said he had received the information from a police source at 8:47 pm on Saturday and that it had been “confirmed”.

However, the fact-checking service CheckNews of French newspaper Libération contacted the Paris prosecutor’s office, which said that, as of Monday - around 48 hours after the alleged incident - there had been no reports to that effect to date.

As of now, other credible sources or official reports have confirmed the alleged attack.