An AI-generated image showing fans of Spanish football club Atletico Madrid supporting Palestine is viral online as a real image. BOOM found that the image has been created using generative-AI by a fan page of the club and is not real.
The Israel-Hamas conflict, which began more than two weeks ago on October 7, has resulted in the death of at least 4,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis, as per official figures. The Indian government recently sent aid to Palestine via Egypt including medical supplies, tents, surgical items, sanitary utilities, and water purification tablets as part of its humanitarian efforts in the region, according to the Ministry of External affairs.
The image shows a sea of Atletico fans in the stadium holding a large Palestine flag. The photo is viral on X with the caption, "Atletico Madrid fans support Palestine 🇵🇸"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The post is also circulating on Facebook with similar captions.
Click here to view.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the image has been made using generative-AI and is not real.
We noticed several distortions in the image, including elongated hands and missing palms that suggested that the image was made using generative-AI.
We then ran the image through two AI image detector tools-- AI or Not and Hive Detector, both of which suggested that the image was AI-generated.
We then ran a reverse image search of the viral photo and found a post by Atletico Universe on X shared on October 18, 2023. At the time of writing this article, the post had 3.9 million views and more than 100K likes.
We reached out to the admin of the page via Instagram Direct Message, who confirmed that the image was created by them using AI.
It is noteworthy that recently, fans of Scotland-based Celtic football club, also known as The Green Brigade, demonstrated their support for Palestine by carrying banners reading 'Free Palestine' and 'Victory to the resistance' at a Scottish Premiership match versus Kilmarnock FC in Glasgow on October 7. The club, however, has distanced itself from the incident and while saying that "Celtic is a football club and not a political organisation." The Green Brigade responded by maintaining its stand and urged fans to keep supporting Palestine.