By Rahat Masood
Publication Date: 2026-01-16 00:17:00
On December 14, 2025, a terrorist attack occurred on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, leaving 15 civilians and one gunman dead. While Australia was still in shock, social media witnessed the rapid spread of misinformation generated and supported by generative artificial intelligence (AI).
For example, a doctored video by New South Wales Prime Minister Chris Minns claimed that one of the terrorists was an Indian citizen. X (formerly Twitter) was awash with celebrations of hero defender “Edward Crabtree.” And a fake photo of Arsen Ostrovsky, a well-known human rights lawyer and survivor of the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, showed him as a crisis actor with makeup artists applying fake blood.
Unfortunately, this happens often. From Bondi to Venezuela, Gaza and Ukraine, AI has accelerated the spread of misinformation online. In fact, about half of the content you see online is now created and distributed by AI.
Generative AI can also create fake online profiles or bots…
