How to spot fake war footage after the US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites

Images and videos of explosions, fires, protests and weapons went viral after the United States’ June 21 attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites — but many of them didn’t show what was actually happening.

Instead, they were generated by artificial intelligence, taken out of context or recorded from video games or flight simulators. Many of them were shared by X accounts with blue check marks, which were formerly associated with accounts belonging to people or organizations with verified identities. (Now they can be purchased.)

It can be difficult to know at first glance on social media platforms whether fearmongering captions actually fit the photo or video you see; sometimes community notes programs add context, but sometimes they don’t.

PolitiFact fact-checked some of the misleading images and videos about the U.S. attack and reaction to it. Here’s a guide of what to avoid and tips about how to verify conflict imagery.