What was claimed
A video shows “anti-fascists” being attacked.
Our verdict
This video isn’t real, and is a deepfake using an image from September 2024. Clues such as the text on a flag changing in the middle of the video are evidence it was made using artificial intelligence (AI).
A viral video showing a group of people dressed in black having what appears to be paint thrown at them has been shared with the caption “patriots welcome anti-fascists”.
But this video isn’t real—it’s actually a deepfake made using artificial intelligence based on a photo taken over a year ago.
The main clue that indicates the video was generated with AI is that the text on a flag being held by two people inexplicably changes part way through the video.
The flag looks, at first glance, like it says “anti-fascist action”. But a few seconds in, when it can be seen more clearly, it actually reads “ANIIVASCIST ACTION”, before changing to what appears to be an entirely different alphabet. Signs and banners in the background also appear illegible.
Reverse image searches for stills from the video allowed us to match the clip with an image captioned “Antifa at Guildhall Square 2” uploaded to the photo-sharing site Flickr in September 2024. The photographer took several other images of anti-fascist and anti-immigration protesters in Portsmouth on 7 September 2024.
However, there was no mention in media reports of any paint being thrown, as depicted in the video.
Join 72,953 people who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
Deepfakes can be created using a single picture. But as we’ve explained before, if a video has been made with AI, the technology may slip up and create glitches with movement, as seen with the waving of the flag in this clip. AI can sometimes struggle to recreate text, which likely explains the garbled letters on both the flag and banners in the background of the video.
The clip has been shared in the weeks after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating ‘Antifa’, which is a catch-all term for a loosely affiliated group of mostly far-left anti-fascism activists, as a “domestic terrorist organisation”.
As AI technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, it is harder to differentiate between real and fake content online. Our recent blog delved into what clues to look out for if you suspect something may have been created with AI.
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 false because this video isn’t real and is an AI deepfake using an image from September 2024.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.