AI-generated whale video misattributed to Iraq's Saladin province, verification team says

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A video circulating on social media that purports to show a whale in a waterway in the Ishaki subdistrict of Saladin province was generated using artificial intelligence, according to the Technology Barış (Technical Barış) team, which investigates misinformation. The group said its reverse-image analysis found that the same footage had been posted on an Instagram account on June 29, 2026, more than a year before the recent wave of shares. The account's owner describes himself as an AI content creator and identifies the posts as artificially produced. The verification team also noted that whales live in deep, saline ocean waters and cannot survive in the shallow, narrow canals found in the area. Reviewers said the water movement in the video follows a repeating, software-generated pattern imitating a fin or body motion, with no genuine part of an animal visible at any point. Officials said similar false content has circulated before, including a crocodile clip attributed to Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar province that originated in Mexico, and a claim that 72 cobras were released in Babylon that was traced to footage from Wadi an-Nuqah in Derna, Libya. Authorities urged the public to verify suspicious imagery through official channels before sharing.