Key Points
The ambiguity around applications of Twitter Blue service, the increasing sophistication of AI images and the lack of regulation around disinformation have all contributed to creating a cocktail of an epic specimen of online forgery...
On Monday, a fake image purporting to show an explosion near a bureaucratic-looking building which is claimed to be the United States Department of Defense (DoD) headquarters or Pentagon, was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts...
The said image bears clear indicators of being AI-generated and was shared by numerous verified accounts with blue check marks, including one that falsely claimed it was associated with Bloomberg News...
The image of plumes of black smoke billowing from the garden near the Pentagon building was created artificially and was reposted by the Twitter blue account with the name Bloomberg Feed..
It is also worth noting that the official account for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, which actually polices the Pentagon, doesnt pay for a blue check mark, and Twitter has not given it a grey check mark (which is the now indicator of a verified institution)...
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