WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Videos show news outlets interviewing Australians about politics.
OUR VERDICT
False. The videos are AI-generated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Videos of news outlets conducting 'vox pop' style street interviews with Australians are circulating online, but the clips are AI-generated.
A Facebook page called Aussie Updates has shared several videos featuring branding that resembles Australian news outlets, including 7NEWS, SBS News and ABC News Radio.
However, the page is operated by users in Sri Lanka, according to Facebook's transparency details.
One post appears to show a reporter conducting an interview with a 7NEWS microphone.
"Our old people who work their whole life are doing it tough, while we give benefits to people who just arrived," the interviewee says.
"Pensioners built this country. They should come first."
The video has attracted more than 100,000 views, and several commenters appear to believe the interview is authentic.
"On point, this guy is absolutely right. Yes, yes," one person wrote in the comments.
However, the video shows several signs of AI-generated content.
The yellow-and-purple 7NEWS microphone shown in the video does not match the network's genuine red-and-black branding.
The writing on the newspaper in the man's pocket is distorted, and text on the interviewee's and reporter's clothing appears garbled.
The video also contains several visual anomalies.
At the beginning of the video, an Australian flag appears unnaturally merged with the side of a car.
The interviewee carries a green shopping bag featuring a logo resembling Foodland, a South Australian supermarket chain, but the design does not match the company's branding.
A woman wearing a yellow vest holding onto a shopping trolley also remains completely motionless throughout the video, despite movement elsewhere in the footage.
Another post by the same Facebook page appears to show a series of street interviews conducted by a reporter holding an SBS News microphone.
In the first segment, an interviewee says: "It's terrible, the government has let us down completely. Pensions haven't gone up, but prices have. It's their fault."
The video is AI-generated.
While the logo resembles SBS's black-and-white logo, SBS News branding is typically red and white. The logo also appears warped and blurry throughout the clip.
At the 10-second mark, the Sydney Opera House appears to sit directly at the end of George Street, despite the famous landmark being located across Sydney Cove at Bennelong Point.
AAP FactCheck reviewed the location on Google Maps and found the view shown in the clip could not be captured from George Street.
Another post shows a series of purported street interviews supposedly conducted by reporters from 6PR and ABC News Radio.
"Should voting in Australian elections be limited to Australian citizens only?" the interviewer asks.
The clip is also AI-generated. In the first interview shown in the clip, the microphone's branding is inconsistent with 6PR branding.
The microphone seen in the fake clip is orange and purple rather than the Perth radio station's signature blue, black and white.
Some of the text on the microphone also appears garbled, reading "6PIK" rather than 6PR.
Other branding in the clip is similarly inconsistent. A supermarket logo resembling IGA appears in the background, but the green-and-white shopfront and sign do not match the retailer's red-and-white branding.
The video shows a "No parking" sign in the background, beside a red sign appearing to display the blurred characters "O" and "WA".
Genuine Australian road signs of this style, such as red "No stopping" signs, should display clear, readable text.
At the 16-second mark, a reporter holds an orange microphone purportedly belonging to ABC Radio National.
However, the microphone does not match the broadcaster's branding, which uses a red-and-white colour scheme.
The microphone displays the words "ABC Radio National Street Stories", but the text appears distorted and blurry.
A distorted kangaroo symbol at the bottom is also accompanied by a string of nonsensical characters that appear to say "NBCD".
Many of the people featured in the videos exhibit common visual signs of AI-generated content, including unnaturally smooth skin and synthetic-sounding voices.
The fabricated videos appear designed to drive engagement by showing interviewers asking Australians about topical and contentious political issues.
Questions featured in other clips include: "Do you support Angus Taylor's plan that welfare payments should only go to Australian citizens?" and "Should Australia shut the gates on ISIS brides?"
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
