The Pentagon is NOT under attack, although verified Twitter accounts say otherwise

The US Pentagon is NOT under attack. But that didn’t stop a plethora of false reports of an explosion from spreading along with an apparently AI-generated image of black smoke near Pentagon headquarters on Monday.

Several “verified” and blue badge Twitter users posted the fake photo along with text suggesting that an active emergency situation was taking place at the Pentagon and later the White House.

Among the reports that amplified the false narratives were at least one that appeared to be impersonating Bloomberg News (The offending account, @BloombergFeed, was later suspended.)

Previously, Twitter verification was only available for “authentic, notable, and active” accounts. Users often had to apply for a blue check, and most offers were rejected. But that verification process no longer exists. Instead, for $8 a month and without much (if any) oversight, Twitter Blue can exploit an aura of authority on the site.

He Russian state media RT he gave the fake story an extra boost when he posted about the fake incident on his verified account. Although RT deleted the tweet within hours of posting it, more than 38,000 people saw it. Republic TV, an English-language right-wing news channel in India, also broadcast a full report based on the false image.

The Pentagon has become a trending topic on Twitter. Now, most messages about the Pentagon appear to be rebuttals of the fake explosion, while some still promote the fake news.

Several US government organizations posted statements on Twitter refuting the hoax.

While it has not been verified whether the false image of the Pentagon explosion was generated by an AI, it almost certainly was. The inconsistencies in the building’s fence and windows seem very befitting the type of failures the AI ​​tends to commit.