Several pictures are going viral on the internet with users claiming that former Chief Medical Advisor to the President of United States Anthony Fauci has been arrested by the police in New York.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
(More archives to similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
Who is Anthony Fauci?: According to the White House website, Fauci served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and "helped the country navigate health crises ranging from HIV/AIDS to COVID-19."
Fauci was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.
He stepped down from his government role in December 2022.
What is the truth?: We found no evidence to back the claim of Fauci's arrest.
The viral images show discrepancies that are similar to those observed in images generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.
How did we find out?: We noticed several abnormalities in the viral pictures, such as one of the policemen can be seen with a fifth finger in the place of the thumb in the first image.
Another irregularity we noticed was how a right arm seems to be attached on the left side of the policewoman in the second image.
(Note: Swipe right to see all the images.)
The policeman can be seen with five fingers.
(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
We also came across a tweet which shared the same set of photos.
This tweet was flagged by Twitter as one showing "altered" images of Fauci's arrest.
The prompt mentioned that they were "produced using AI image generation, similar to those that surfaced of former President Donald Trump."
Twitter flagged the tweet as one with 'AI image generation.'
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Has Fauci been arrested?: A keyword search did not lead us to any credible news reports about Fauci's arrest.
A second wind?: The Quint previously debunked similar AI-generated images, which were created using a tool named Midjourney V5 and showed the arrest of former US President Donald Trump.
Team WebQoof had also published a report which explored the problems and upsides of such AI tools. You can read the detailed report here.
Conclusion: People on social media are using AI-generated images to falsely claim that Dr Anthony Fauci has been arrested.
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