Fact check: Viral video does not show Palestinian flag atop Eiffel Tower amid France riots; is AI generated

France has been experiencing widespread protests over rising living costs, demands for better-resourced schools

Several people, including right-wing American accounts, have been sharing a video on social media platform X since October 19, claiming it shows a Palestinian flag hoisted at the top of the Eiffel Tower during protests in Paris. However, the video is AI-generated.

France has been experiencing widespread protests over rising living costs, concerns about public services and demands for better-resourced schools. Demonstrations that began among high school students in the Paris region spread across the country, with students protesting deteriorating school facilities and staff shortages.

The movement has also drawn support from trade unions and other demonstrators, while some protests have escalated into violent demonstrations in Paris, including clashes with the police, burning cars and looted shops, while police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters.

How it started

On October 19, an X account shared a video of flags being hoisted atop the Eiffel Tower, with the following caption: “Congratulations, Emmanuel Macron, you destroyed Paris.”

The post gained 5.8 million views.

Read: Fact check: Viral K-P Home Department notification ordering arrests of PTI workers is fake

A pro-Trump account on X, based on its past posts and profile picture, also shared the same video on the same day with the same caption. The post gained 2.7m views.

Another account on X shared the same video on the same day with the following caption: “Paris has fallen. There is a Palestinian flag at the top of the Eiffel Tower. America, wake up. This could easily happen to us.”

The post gained 256,700 views.

The same video was shared by other right-wing American accounts on X and Instagram, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively gaining 304,995 views.

Methodology

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in visuals from the protests.

A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible French or international media outlets had reported that protesters had hoisted a Palestinian flag atop the Eiffel Tower. However, no credible reports confirming the incident or the viral visuals were found.

Another visual inconsistency was identified by comparing the viral video with authentic images of the Eiffel Tower. The people appearing in the video are disproportionately large in relation to the tower compared with those seen in real photographs.

Analysing the video using AI-detection tools showed that Deepfake Detector flagged the footage as 57 per cent AI-generated.

Similarly, another AI detection tool, UncovAI, also flagged the video as 54% AI-generated.

Hive Moderation also flagged the video as 49.7% AI-generated.

Fact-check status: false

The claim that a viral video shows a Palestinian flag hoisted at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is false.

The viral video is AI-generated and contains inconsistencies in the flags and the structure of the tower.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.