The video swiftly gathered over 12 million views after being shared on Facebook.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France, learned about an alleged coup against him after receiving a concerned message alongside a Facebook video link.
«On Sunday (14 December), an African peer contacted me, stating ‘Dear president, what is happening to you? I am deeply concerned,’” Macron revealed to readers of the French regional newspaper La Provence on 16 December.
The message was accompanied by a striking video featuring a rotating helicopter, military forces, assembled crowds, and seemingly a news presenter addressing the camera.
«Unofficial sources claim that a coup has taken place in France, led by a colonel whose identity remains unknown, along with the possible downfall of Emmanuel Macron. Yet, no official declaration has been issued by authorities,» the anchor reports.
However, the entire video is fabricated: it was generated using AI.
After uncovering the clip, Macron reached out to Pharos — France’s official system for reporting illegal internet content — requesting they contact Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to have the video removed.
That appeal was denied as the platform maintained the video did not breach its “terms of use.”
The French leader then took it upon himself to push for its removal.
«I tend to believe that I can exert more influence than others,» Macron explained. «Or rather, it may be easier to emphasize the gravity of the situation if I call myself, but even so, it didn’t succeed.»
«These individuals are mocking us,» he added. «They disregard the calm of public discussions, they show no respect for democracy, and as a result, they endanger us.»
Who is responsible for these counterfeit videos?
The original video, which quickly amassed over 12 million views, was posted by a Facebook profile named «Islam,» which surprisingly does not focus on religious posts.
The adolescent who manages this account resides in Burkina Faso and earns income by conducting courses on how to profit from AI.
He removed the video more than a week after it first appeared, amid political and public backlash.
Euronews’ fact-checking unit, The Cube, attempted to contact him via the phone number listed on his Facebook profile multiple times, but all calls remain unanswered.
Several videos display AI-generated news anchors holding microphones branded with the logo of Radio France Internationale (RFI), France’s international public radio service.
Some clips show the «Sora» watermark, implying that this content was likely created using that tool.
Sora 2 is a technology developed by OpenAI — the creators of Chat GPT — which enables users to produce 10-second hyper-realistic videos from textual prompts.
Although certain videos lack the logo, it can be removed during editing.
Since its release in October, the technology has sparked debate, contributing to a surge in advanced, hard-to-identify AI videos on social media platforms.