IN SHORT: A video that appears to be CCTV footage of a lion devouring meat in the butchery aisle of a store has been widely shared as though it were real footage. But the video is AI generated and doesn’t depict real events.
A bizarre video that appears to show a lion helping itself to the butchery aisle in a supermarket has been widely shared across social media, often accompanied by astonishing stories about where it was filmed.
“In a jaw-dropping moment, a wild lion wandered into a grocery store in South Africa, leaving shoppers stunned and scrambling,” reads a typical Instagram post. The same message, which has been repeated on Facebook, Threads and TikTok, continues: “Though no one was harmed, it's a powerful reminder that nature doesn't always stay outside-and living near the wild means expecting the unexpected.”
The stories vary and the details are often different, but none of them is correct.
Video AI generated, not of actual events
The original version of the video was uploaded to TikTok by an account with the handle @ataquesferoz. “Ataques feroz” is Portuguese for “fierce attacks”. The account has since changed its handle to “@fierceattackofc” and uses the account name “Fierce Attack”, but many of the accounts reposting the video still credit @ataquesferoz as the source.
However, the original TikTok video includes a label reading “Creator labelled as AI-generated”, as do all of Fierce Attack’s other videos. TikTok explains that this label “appears on content that a creator indicates was completely AI-generated or significantly edited with AI”. In this case, the video appears to be entirely generated using artificial intelligence tools.
There are also several visual giveaways in the video that it was AI-generated. For example, pieces of meat in the video move without being touched, change shape, and appear or disappear out of nowhere.
The Fierce Attack TikTok account is not trying to hide that the video is AI-generated. It is clearly labelled, and the account has not tried to disguise the flaws in the video that reveal it is AI-generated. This is true of all of the account’s videos, which are also AI-generated videos of animals in unusual or dangerous situations.
However, many accounts that have reposted the video have not been so transparent.
Reposts include fake stories and deceptive editing
Other versions of the video uploaded to TikTok do not include TikTok’s “Creator labelled as AI-generated” label.
Some examples, such as these Instagram posts, credit Fierce Attack as the original uploader of the video, but do not disclose that it is AI-generated. Like these posts on Threads or these examples on Facebook, they include false claims about the context of the video. Crediting the source makes it easier to find the original context but some reuploads have made it more difficult to verify the video.
Many have edited the original video in a way that makes it harder to identify as AI-generated. Many re-uploaded versions of the clip cut out the most obvious visual errors in the video, or cover them with graphics. Others use only still images from the video, making it impossible to spot the unusual movements and moment-to-moment changes that give away that this is not a legitimate video.
This has not necessarily been done to deceive. Colourful graphics are eye-catching and serve to advertise the account that has re-uploaded the video. Cutting a video short or using only still images may make it easier to share on different platforms. And it’s likely that so many accounts are crediting the original creator simply because they are copying text posted by others and not because they have seen the original Fierce Attack video.
These patterns are common to online spam. Popular videos, images and messages are reposted and repeated by spam accounts that are copying each other in an attempt to profit off one original, attention-grabbing viral post. Because these spammers have little regard for the accuracy of the things they are posting and want to make their version of a post the most eye-catching, they do not preserve the crucial original context in which something was posted.
This is a good example of why it is important to find and investigate the original source of a post and compare information to trusted sources that are more careful to share only accurate information. For advice on how to verify claims like this one, see Africa Check’s guides to verifying news articles, spotting AI-generated images and videos and frequently re-shared false claims.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
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