Disinformation Floods Social Media after Nicolás Maduro’s Capture

Within minutes of Donald Trump announcing in the early hours of Saturday morning that U.S. troops had captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, disinformation about the operation flooded social media.

Some people shared old videos across social platforms, falsely claiming that they showed the attacks on the Venezuelan capital Caracas. On TikTok, Instagram and X, people shared AI-generated images and videos that claimed to show U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and various law enforcement personnel arresting Maduro.

In recent years, major global incidents have triggered huge amounts of disinformation on social media as tech companies have pulled back efforts to moderate their platforms. Many accounts have sought to take advantage of these lax rules to boost engagement and gain followers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.