In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
A picture circulating across social media purports to show hip-hop mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, former President Donald Trump, and deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein with a group of young women. But is the photo real?
The image, which has been spotted in recent days on platforms such as X, appears to have first originated last month in a post on Facebook. A caption alongside the image sarcastically describes the gathering as a “Bible study” and shows the three men all sitting together on a couch.
Facebook users were quick to comment on the post and seemed largely uninterested in whether the image was legitimate.
“Sleezy…and those girls look under age,” one user said.
“Creepy!” another stated.
A handful of users, however, were skeptical. Some even argued that the photo looked doctored.
“Is that real?” a user asked.
“Badly photoshopped,” another added. “Poor Epstein has no legs…lol.”
Nevertheless, the vast majority of users seemed convinced that the photo of the trio was real.
“Stellar example of jaded decadence. Not my President,” one commenter said in regard to Trump.
But, as you may have guessed, the image isn’t real.
It turns out that the picture had actually gone viral once before. Yet that version, which was determined to be AI-generated by the fact-checking website Lead Stories, did not include Combs.
In other words, someone decided to simply add Combs to the picture. Combs even appears to have six fingers on one hand, a tell-tale sign of AI manipulation.
While all three men have faced either serious accusations or charges related to rape and other sex crimes, the picture itself is not real.
Combs made headlines this year after his properties in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by law enforcement as part of an investigation into numerous alleged crimes, including sex trafficking.
Why it matters
Luckily, poorly-made pieces of misinformation such as this image usually only gain traction on Facebook. But with the rapid advancement of AI and other technologies, it will likely become harder for many to distinguish the truth.
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