Fact check: Viral videos falsely linked to Riyadh airport attack

Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport in recent days. At least 16 people have been killed since last Thursday, according to Saudi authorities. 

As news of the attacks spreads, social media users have been sharing videos that they claim show the strikes. While some authentic footage of the attacks and their aftermath has circulated online, DW Fact check found that several viral videos are not genuine and show signs of being AI-generated.

Claim: This post with 1.7 million views on X, claims it shows the moment of an attack on the airport. 

DW Fact check: Fake 

The video has been online since March this year and could not show the most recent attacks on the airport. 

Hectic camera movements and blurry footage help conceal glitches that often point to AI-generated content. However, our frame-by-frame analysis identified several inconsistencies. That suggests the video was AI-generated.

In the video, people run toward an exit as an explosion occurs outside. Despite the apparent danger, they continue moving toward the blast, seemingly through a glass door. This reaction is implausible. 

Around 10 seconds into the video, an image of a hand holding a smartphone appears on the side of a man's head. 

At 12 seconds, one man first appears not to have a hand, then miraculously has one. 

Meta's AI identification tool finds AI signatures in the video and concludes it was created using generative AI. 

Many shared the video as authentic, including the Times of Israel– its post had over 256,000 views at the time of writing. 

The video has appeared in many languages, including Arabic, English, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Nepali, and it has been shared on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebookand other platforms.

AI generates video from real photograph

Claim: In this post on X with 2.9 million views, a user claims it shows "New video footage of the moment King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh was targeted." 

DW Fact check: Fake 

The video is AI-generated and contains several inconsistencies when compared with the real airport. Using a reverse image search, we found the photograph used to generate the fake video. 

The original image was uploaded to stock photo database Shutterstockin 2016. Although it was taken from a slightly different angle it shows many visual cues that overlap with the video, including the white triangular geometric patterns of the airport building roof, the dome to the left, the luggage transport vehicles, and the open and closed doors of the plane. 

Other elements are missing. In the video, the light pole to the left of the aircraft appears without any lamps attached. The video is grainy and contains some visual glitches where parts of the image suddenly become blurry. 

When the supposed missile strikes the plane, a nearby vehicle significantly changes its shape as it is thrown into the air. Another inconsistency is that, despite the missile's massive explosion and a resulting fireball, nearby objects do not cast corresponding shadows.

The account that shared the video has repeatedly posted AI-generated content in the past. 

Whereas the attack on October 8 King Khalid International Airport did reportedly badly damage a plane, this video does not show the moment of attack. 

Video predates attack and shows people move through objects

Claim: This TikTok postwith over 301,000 views claims that the footage was recorded "Just now from the heart of Riyadh Airport."

DW Fact check: Fake

This video had already circulated online in March this year, months before the attack. We found the video was shared in Greek, Albanian, Turkish, and Russian. 

The footage contains several visual anomalies. Parts of the image appear blurry, and some people seem to merge into one another. In addition, a row of red lights in the terminal switches on one second before the supposed explosion becomes visible through the window.

The clearest indication that the video is AI-generated is the way people move through the queue barriers. At the beginning of the video, several people appear to walk directly through them. After the supposed explosion, some individuals run straight through barriers that appear to end mid-air and are connected on only one side.

Video contains Google AI watermarks

Claim: This TikTok post, which has garnered over 500,000 views, reports on the attacks on the airports in Riyadh and Abha and includes a compilation of videos. We examined the first video. 

DW Fact check: Fake

Analysis using Google Gemini detected that the video was generated, at least in part, with Google AI tools. The clip contains a SynthID watermark in both the images and the audio. 

The same video also circulated on Facebook, where it has received over 157,000 views. On Facebook it has been posted by an account that only shares AI-generated videos, and it is clearly labeled as "AI-content."

All four videos examined by DW Fact check are very short. Two are between six and ten seconds long, while the other two last 13 and 15 seconds, respectively. Such brief videos are easier to create with AI and often contain very little visual information, making it difficult for viewers to verify their authenticity.

Daniel Ebertz contributed to this research.

Edited by: Chiponda Chimbelu

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