Netizens are circulating a video supposedly showing a river in Argentina that turned crimson red last February. This video was generated through artificial intelligence (AI).
On Feb. 24, a Facebook (FB) user posted a six-second video containing three clips of the supposed bloody red river with onlookers on the banks. The post’s caption read:
“River in Argentina turns to blood.”
While the Sarandí Stream in Buenos Aires turned red last month possibly due to industrial chemical leaks, the circulating video is fake.
Features of the river in Argentina, as seen in footage published by legitimate media organizations, differ from those shown in the circulating clips.
A closer look at the video shows discrepancies such as distorted body parts and unnatural movements of the persons. These are telltale signs of AI-generated content.
Results from the AI detection tool Hive Moderation also indicate that the video is likely to contain deepfake content, garnering a 96.9% aggregate score.
According to reports, industrial chemicals released by factories and tanneries near the area could have contaminated the stream on Feb. 6. The fake video circulated more than two weeks after the incident was reported.
Several Filipino netizens have been sharing the video and commenting on it, with some spreading doomsday narratives and linking it to the “blood river” mentioned in the Bible.
In 2021, VERA Files debunked circulating photos of a “red flood” in Indonesia, also alleged to be a biblical omen, which turned out to be caused by dyes from a nearby factory.
The video uploaded by an FB user garnered 25,300 reactions, 2,900 comments, 10,000 shares and 3,900,000 views. Other copies of the fake video have been posted on the platform.
