By @BBCWorld
Publication Date: 2025-12-16 10:26:00
Fake AI image used to claim Bondi Beach shooting was stagedpublished at 10:45 GMT
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
An AI-generated image – we should warn you, showing a man with a bloodied face – is being used to make false claims that the Bondi Beach shooting was staged, including social media posts that have been viewed more than 10 million times.
The fake image appears to show one of the attack victims having fake blood applied by a make-up artist on what appears to be a film set next to a beach.
The man sitting on the floor resembles Arsen Ostrovsky, an Israeli lawyer who was hit in the head by a bullet and shared images of his injuries on social media.
This fake image has been used in hundreds of posts on social media platforms to claim that the shooting was a so-called “false flag” attack, but there are clear signs that this image was created by AI.
From an interview Ostrovsky did with Australia’s 9 News TV, we know that his T-shirt said “United”…
