Fake photos circulating on social media over Milestone aircraft crash
“A training aircraft has crashed severely on the field of Milestone College in Uttara, Dhaka. May Allah protect everyone (Ameen),” wrote a user named Salman Mahbub in a Facebook post on Monday, sharing two images.
In the comments, another user asked whether the photos were actually from the scene. In response, Mahbub claimed that the images were from Milestone College.
However, upon verification, it was found that the images were not real. Fact-checking organisation Dismislab confirmed that the photos were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Yesterday, a fighter jet of the Air Force crashed into a building of Milestone School and College. Soon after the incident, a series of fake images began circulating on social media.
A Facebook page named Durbin News posted about the incident, attaching a photo of a white aircraft engulfed in flames. However, fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner later verified that this image was also fake.
Fact-checking group Dismislab identified a total of six AI-generated images that spread on Facebook shortly after the crash. According to the organisation, these images contained visual inconsistencies that raised suspicion. In one image, the crashed aircraft is seen standing intact on the field; in another, it appears that two planes have crashed—none of which reflect the actual event.
Dismislab noted that one of the images contained a spelling error in the words "school and college"—a common issue found in AI-generated images. Additionally, most of the images showed unrealistic fire placement and aircraft structures that did not align with reality. These verified images strongly suggest they were generated by AI.
The visible inconsistencies in the images indicate that they were likely created with the intent to mislead and spread misinformation.
Rumor Scanner has identified five AI-generated images circulating on Facebook related to the incident. Their investigation found that these images are not of the fighter jet that crashed in Uttara. Observations revealed several structural differences between the aircraft shown in the images and the actual crashed jet.
Rumor Scanner also discovered that one of the AI-generated images was shared from the Facebook page of a national daily newspaper. However, the image was later removed.
Out of the 11 images identified by Dismislab and Rumor Scanner, three were duplicates, while the remaining eight were different. These images began spreading on Facebook shortly after the plane crash in Uttara on Monday afternoon. Without verifying their authenticity, several online news portals shared them, leading many regular users to be misled and further circulate the false images.
A visit to the pages analyzed by Dismislab and Rumor Scanner on Tuesday morning showed that many of the AI-generated images had been taken down. However, these images still remain on accounts of regular users who had shared them.
Experts say that the spread of such fake images is often driven by motives like clickbait and increasing follower counts.
BM Mainul Hossain, Director of the Institute of Information Technology at the University of Dhaka, commented that such fake images, shared during incidents like this, mislead the general public. He noted that in the aftermath of accidents, fake visuals can lead to rumours and panic, potentially causing large-scale social unrest.
Hossain emphasised the need for both government and private initiatives to focus on fact-checking to counter fake images and videos. He added that organisations should establish systems to verify information so people can access accurate data. Additionally, he suggested that general users should rely on multiple sources for verification instead of depending on just one.