Shayan Sardarizadeh

Hello to all the new people migrating from X. I'm a BBC journalist and fact-checker. Please flag any potentially misleading viral claims either on Bluesky or any other social media platform that needs fact-checking via DM, and I'll do the rest. Thank you!

I spoke to Craig Silverman and Alexios Mantzarlis of the Indicator podcast about the way generative AI is rapidly changing and complicating the process of verification, reporting and and fact-checking of major news events for journalists and OSINT investigators. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlfE...

X says that it has suspended nearly 13,000 inauthentic accounts linked to Russia, China and Iran that had been posting about US politics ahead of the midterm elections.

Yes, those Yandex strikes took down Russian bots. No, not those kind of bots, says the evidence so far. With @shayan86.bsky.social, @olgar.bsky.social, @robcorp.bsky.social, @biancabritton.bsky.social and @paulybrown.bsky.social. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

By popular demand: A follow-up thread on Russian bots, Yandex, Cloudflare, MAGA, AfD and "breathing easier" on social media. 1️⃣ We see no "dramatic drop" in traffic of Kremlin-aligned human trolls-for-hire targeting Russian domestic users (which we have been tracking for years).

Claims that Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centres reduced Russia-linked bot networks have spread widely online and were repeated by President Zelensky, but experts have told BBC Verify there is no evidence the attacks have significantly reduced Russian bot activity. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

To those implying that Kremlin-controlled social media bot/troll farms became silent after Ukraine hit a Yandex data center, posting this CloudFare chart ( radar.cloudflare.com/bots/as13238 ): Hate to disappoint you all ⤵️

Currently, a diagram is making the rounds that is claimed to show a significant reduction in Russian disinformation bot activity after Ukrainian drones hit Yandex data centers. There is no evidence that this plot shows real data. I suspect that this image is AI-generated.

There's a social media scam featuring AI-generated injured soldiers shilling moody goods. Be on the lookout. Great story from Nick Stapleton for BBC Morning Live. AI detection and sense-checking from me and @shayan86.bsky.social

The official social media accounts of Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei have for the second time since March published an image of him that appears to have been manipulated with Google AI. He has not been seen in public since being appointed Iran's head of state in March.

How close were Boris Johnson, Carl Bildt and many European security advisors to at least two Russian drone strikes on Sunday? Lots of geo work, down to Polish train timetables and timing sight:sound difference of an explosion. With @shayan86.bsky.social, edited by @olgar.bsky.social.

Additional geolocation using @planet.com SkySat imagery from July related the piece below: CCTV footage showed the strikes in Kuhestak, Iran as they happened. Appears to have been filmed near the town's destroyed police station. Map link: www.google.com/maps/place/2... TG link: t.me/Pelenya/31384

Verified videos show a major oil slick washing up on Iran's Qeshm Island, which analysts have said comes from a ship hit by a strike in the Strait of Hormuz. The spill threatens wildlife, protected ecosystems and fishing communities around Qeshm. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Some of the content by the latest AI models are frighteningly realisitc, to the point that it's becoming difficult to spot any obvious errors in them even with well-trained eyes. Going forward, digital watermarking seems to be one of the few practical solutions to AI-generated misinformation.

President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb a suspected underground nuclear site in Iran known as Pickaxe Mountain. The facility is believed to be buried deep inside a mountain and its exact purpose is shrouded in mystery and speculation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Google Earth has launched a new AI tool which allows users to create fake satellite images. A collapsed Eiffel Tower, a sinkhole swallowing the Great Pyramid of Giza and Russian tanks in Kyiv were among the fake images BBC Verify created when testing the feature. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's no way that this new AI image generation feature in Google Earth, one of the most reliable sources of visual evidence for journalists and researchers, could possibly be abused to spread misinformation online and damage trust in satellite images. Absolutely no cause for concern here at all.

Google Earth, a tool often used as a source of satellite imagery to verify photos and videos, has added a feature that allows you to alter satellite imagery with AI, for reasons. blog.google/products-and...

These two widely shared images claiming to show the IDF restoring a statue of Jesus that was previously damaged by an Israeli soldier near Debl, Lebanon, are AI-generated and fake. A Google SynthID check finds watermarks that suggest both images were made with Google AI.

The Metropolitan police have arrested 7 people in connection with arson attacks against Jewish targets. Seems like some of them were planning a new attack. Also 8th arrest, someone in connection with Israel embassy drone attack.

This image, which claims to show one of the airmen rescued by US special forces from Iran, has racked up millions of views after being shared by some major influencers, and even by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The image is AI-generated and features multiple errors.

Multiple weapons experts have disputed a US claim that Iran may have been responsible for a deadly strike on the town of Lamerd on the first day of the Iran war, which killed 21 people. Weapons experts say a US PrSM missile was likely used in the strike. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I hope that if there's one thing that this Iran conflict and the explosion of online misinformation about it has laid bare for most people is the significance of content verification and fact-checking in the digital age. AI cannot replace human verification, at least not just yet.

You can’t actually destroy highly enriched uranium (HEU). Bombing it doesn’t d anything to it.

Footage published by Iranian media today shows damage to Chehel Sotoon, a 17th century, Safavid-era landmark palace and garden located in the historic centre of Isfahan, after air strikes in its vicinity. The Persian garden that surrounds the palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A newly published video shows that a US Tomahawk missile hit a medical clinic inside an IRGC base and near a primary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab where the authorities said 168 people, including around 110 children, were killed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an IRGC facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school, where 175 people were reportedly killed, including children.

BBC Verify has analysed verified videos and satellite imagery that show severe damage to a hospital, sporting centres, a UNESCO world heritage site and two schools since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Saturday, as the number of civilian casualties grows. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Iran/US/Israel war might have already broken the record for the highest number of AI-generated videos and images that have gone viral during a conflict. Interestingly, I said the exact same thing right after the 12-day war in June. Welcome to our brave new world of AI misinformation.