An image purporting to show WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange physically unwell in London’s Belmarsh prison fooled countless people online despite being generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Shared on Thursday by the Twitter user known as “The Errant Friend,” the image, which depicts a disheveled Assange with his eyes closed, gained widespread attention after spreading rapidly across social media.
Supporters of Assange cited the synthetic photo in countless tweets while arguing that the publisher should be released from custody. Assange has been imprisoned since 2019 and is currently facing extradition to the U.S. over espionage and other charges related to his work with WikiLeaks.
“Assange’s last photo leaked,” one user wrote. “Aren’t you ashamed, world? Cry, planet earth.”
Multiple tweets containing copies of the photo received several million views, highlighting just how much the fabricated image was seen online.
The AI-generated image also appeared to fool Simon Ateba, the White House correspondent for Today News Africa.
“Photo Leaked: This is what the United States and the West did to Julian Assange for reporting the truth,” he tweeted. “The same people lecturing about misinformation have been killing a whistleblower for telling the world the truth. Not for lying, not for spreading fake news but the truth!”
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