What was claimed
A recently filmed video shows a crowded small boat crossing the English Channel.
Our verdict
This video is fake. It has been created with AI.
Video of migrant small boat crossing English Channel is fake
A video viewed more than 400,000 times on Facebook which seems to show a small boat crossing the English Channel is fake.
The footage, which appears to show a dinghy filled with people sailing past cliffs and a coastline as if filmed from a fishing boat, has been shared with the caption: “Recent footage from the English Channel, filmed just days ago.”
The clip has gained over 1,700 comments, with many appearing to believe it shows genuine scenes filmed at sea.
At one point the person supposedly filming speaks directly to the camera, saying: “Where are they coming from? Oh my god.”
While there have been hundreds of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats in recent days, this video is not authentic.
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Both the audio and the visuals of the video contains SynthID, a digital watermark added to products made or altered with Google’s AI tools.
We couldn’t find evidence of this footage being reported by credible media outlets, and the same account has also shared other AI videos claiming to show similar scenes, including upturned dinghies in the English Channel.
Before sharing clips such as these, first consider whether they come from a verifiable and trustworthy source. Our guide to spotting AI content, and toolkit on how to identify bad information, can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as altered because this isn’t real footage of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats—it’s been made with AI.