AI Generated Photo Of Julian Assange In Prison Goes Viral

A synthetic image created using Artificial intelligence (AI) showing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange with his eyes closed looking physically weak is being shared on social media falsely claiming that it is a real photo of him in prison in the United Kingdom.

Assange (51) faces charges in the United States for having published confidential documents about the US Army regarding their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010. Assange was arrested in London in 2019 after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He has since been in a prison in Belmarsh, London.

The photo is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "Latest picture of Julian Assange in the UK prison. There is no such thing as freedom of speech. The Establishment is run by thugs."

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The viral photo was also tweeted by the official Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Kenya with the caption, "13 years ago, Julian Assange released a video showing US Forces firing on Iraqi civilians, including children for no reason. Now he faces up to 175 years in prison for publishing it."

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FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the image was created through a generative AI tool and is not a real photo of Julian Assange in prison in the United Kingdom.

The viral photo has a watermark on it - "Photo Property of E". A simple reverse image search led us to an article on the AI image by the German tabloid Bild dated April 2, 2023, which reported that the photo was created by the account The Errant Friend / E.

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The Twitter account 'The Errant Friend' posted the AI photo on March 30, 2023, supporting Assange.

The Twitter account has been posting several other AI generated photos of Assange and Trump.

The account also posted on its Telegram channel confirming that the viral photo was created by it.

BOOM reached out to E who confirmed that he created the photo as a 'viral art project'. "My intention was to create an image based on the documented happenings around Julian," E told BOOM. He further confirmed that the viral photo was created using the AI tool Midjourney and shared a screenshot of the prompt he had entered for the bot.

This AI-generated photo is the latest to add to growing concerns that easy-to-access hyper-realistic AI generated images and videos are being weaponized to spread misinformation and disinformation across the world.

BOOM has already debunked several pieces of misinformation where AI-generated photos using the AI tool Midjourney were created and shared online with misleading claims.