Overview
- AFP analysts flagged the widely shared handcuff photo as inauthentic using InVID WeVerify, which indicated an 84 percent likelihood of AI generation, and Google Backstory found strong evidence of synthetic manipulation.
- Visual tells included a missing small finger on a soldier’s hand, a blood-soaked shirt over a largely clean undershirt, and an exaggerated forehead scar inconsistent with verified images.
- The image entered newsrooms under the credit line “ddp/WD/Polaris,” with ddp confirming it came from partner agency Polaris without any AI label and removing it after discovery.
- Funke’s Berliner Morgenpost published the photo, then deleted it and issued an apology, while ddp and laif pulled the file and reiterated policies prohibiting AI-created content for journalistic use.
- Polaris had not explained the image’s origin as of January 9, and the episode unfolded alongside other debunked posts tied to the January 3 raid, with Maduro remaining in U.S. custody after pleading not guilty on January 5.