This article is part of The Globe’s initiative to cover dis- and misinformation. E-mail us to share tips or feedback at disinfodesk@globeandmail.com.
The regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed when rebel forces entered Damascus on Sunday. The dramatic final days of the brutal Syrian civil war were captured in news photography that showed people celebrating and opposition forces taking over Mr. al-Assad’s presidential palace.
Several false and misleading visuals posted on social media centred around Saydnaya prison, near the Syrian capital, a place notorious for torture and mistreatment of captives. We’ll examine some of the most prominent false claims.
Prisoner image from an AI-generated video
An image of a man in a tunnel is not a prisoner being rescued from Saydnaya prison.
Frame grab of an AI-generated video posted to TIkTok that has been shared online falsely claiming to be of Syrian prison.TikTok
The image is a frame grab from an AI-generated video posted to TikTok around Dec. 3. The video is labelled as AI-generated on TikTok and has other indicators it is fake, such as the shape of the man’s top teeth changing.
Video of prison is from Vietnam, not Syria
A video posted to TikTok and X that also claimed to be of Saydnaya prison was actually taken in Vietnam.
A reverse image search of the video matched a stock photograph that identifies it as a re-creation of a cell for prisoners of war at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. The construction of the cell door and the painted background to its left are a match.
Comparison of a frame grab of a video falsely claiming to be of a Syrian prison (left) beside a stock photo of the same location showing it to be a museum in Vietnam.TIkTok/Alamy
A frame grab from the same video apparently showing a prisoner manacled to a bed frame is actually a mannequin.
Frame grab of a video posted on social media given the false context of being from Syria when it is a museum display in Vietnam.X
Photo of prison cells is from 2015
An image posted to X that claims to be Saydnaya prison is from 2015 and is of a different jail. A reverse image search shows the image to be of the Tadmor prison in Palmyra, in eastern Syria. The BBC and Daily Mail reported on the photo and conditions at the prison in 2015.
Comparison of an image posted to X with the false context of being Saydnaya prison (top), with the same image published by the Daily Mail identifying it as a different prison in Syria.X/Daily Mail