{"id":348095,"date":"2026-01-02T12:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/348095\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:49:09","slug":"bbc-verify-live-ai-images-among-real-footage-being-shared-of-iran-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/348095\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Verify Live: AI images among real footage being shared of Iran protests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Verified images show revellers with sparklers inside Swiss nightclubpublished at 11:54 GMT<\/p>\n<p>11:54 GMT<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-kkut0v-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/b5c4d397-173c-4494-9136-e8dc366915d0.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Richard Irvine-Brown<br \/>BBC Verify journalist<\/p>\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"People holding champagne bottles with sparklers attached in the Swiss nightclub - flames can be seen in the ceiling\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6adf8e8e-6bb4-47b3-a398-165af60e5359.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"638\" height=\"680\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, X<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">BBC Verify has verified two photos showing lit sparklers attached to bottles inside Le Constellation nightclub in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The images are being shared online with claims they were taken before a fire broke out at the club on New Year\u2019s Eve, killing at least 40 people. One image shows people holding several bottles in the air with lit sparklers attached and what appears to be flames in the ceiling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We searched for previous versions of this image online and no copies existed before yesterday. There are several details in the photograph which match older photos of the interior of the nightclub, including the bar, the wall decoration and the pipework. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We ran the photo through four artificial intelligence-detection tools, none of which reported any AI-manipulation although one said the image had been edited.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The second image we looked at shows someone in a sleeveless black dress and crash helmet holding a bottle with a lit sparkler attached. We searched for previous versions online and no copies existed before yesterday.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A person in  a crash helmet holding a bottle of champagne with a sparkler attached\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/41d69f45-442e-443a-ac5a-cac82c989e5a.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"202\" height=\"114\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, X<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Parts of a neon sign for Le Constel can be seen in the background, consistent with older photos from the club.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Checks using three AI-detection tools came back clear for AI-manipulation &#8211; but one said the photo was edited. Running it through a digital manipulation tool showed no evidence of manipulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Verified images show revellers with sparklers inside Swiss nightclubpublished at 11:54 GMT 11:54 GMT Richard Irvine-BrownBBC Verify journalist&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-348095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}