DW debunks recycled and AI-generated videos linked to Yemen conflict

DW’s fact-checking team found that two widely shared videos falsely presented as footage of current Houthi-Saudi fighting were either artificially generated, old or taken from another context. Researchers say limited access to reliable information and weak media conditions in Yemen create space for such disinformation to spread.

As fighting between Yemen’s Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia has intensified, misleading videos have circulated online as purported evidence of events on the battlefield. DW’s fact-checking team examined two widely shared clips and found that neither accurately documented the current conflict.

The first video, a nine-second clip showing a large explosion between buildings, was posted on X with an Arabic caption claiming Yemeni forces had carried out strikes in Saudi Arabia, including Abha. DW said the footage was artificially generated, citing visual inconsistencies including the uniform spread of smoke, the absence of expected damage to nearby buildings and a lamppost that appears suddenly in the frame. Hive Moderation’s AI detection analysis also identified the clip as artificially generated.

DW further reported that the same video had circulated previously with a claim that it showed explosions in Iran. The fact-checking team said the clip lacked signs that would normally accompany an explosion of the depicted scale, including a bright flash and an audible change in the nearby speaker’s reaction.

A second video shows military vehicles crossing a desert before explosions erupt. It was shared with a caption describing an ambush by the Houthis against a Saudi-backed convoy. DW traced the footage to a video published in April 2024 that presented the sequence as a Houthi military exercise involving simulated attacks on Israeli positions and US and British forces. The footage was also linked to a longer video released by Yemeni War Media, which is affiliated with the Houthi movement.

The audio in the circulating version had been replaced with dramatic commentary from a 2018 football match, DW found. A timestamp in the video pointed to March 10, 2024, but the material was unrelated to the current fighting.

Hannah Porter, who researches disinformation in Yemen, told DW that limited international attention and the difficulty of independently reporting from parts of the country allow false material to spread. She said reliable information is particularly difficult to obtain in northern Yemen, where journalists face threats and independent media outlets operate under intense pressure. Porter advised viewers to be skeptical of videos attributed to specific battles and to seek independent fact-checking.