00:00Verifying Images of Mount Etna's Eruption
00:07Europe's largest and most active volcano, Mount Etna, which is located on the east coast of
00:12the island of Sicily, erupted on the 2nd of June. The major incident caused the volcano to spew ash,
00:20gas and rock at a level of intensity which has not been recorded since February 2021.
00:26Mount Etna frequently erupts and this marked the 14th episode since March. However,
00:31its outbursts rarely cause significant damage or injuries. This latest incident may have been
00:38well documented but online users have been calling into question how real footage like this,
00:43which shows hikers fleeing from the volcano, really is. Some have claimed the video was
00:48generated of artificial intelligence. Although AI videos claiming to show Mount Etna have been
00:53shared online, these images are authentic and have been shared widely by reputable media organizations.
01:01Local authorities issued warnings on the morning of the 2nd of June, stating that the volcano had
01:06increased its activity levels, but some hikers still chose to venture onto Mount Etna. As AI
01:12becomes more and more sophisticated, its ability to produce content which is indissociable from real
01:17life images increases too. This leads online users to be suspicious of extraordinary yet authentic
01:24footage. Other viral images of a white mushroom cloud emerged after Mount Etna's latest eruption,
01:30and they have been circulating online. However, by conducting a reverse image search,
01:36Euroverify found photos taken just meters away from the same spot, which date back to as early as 2015.
01:43Such images have featured in multiple academic reports, which confirm the photo is from 4 December 2015,
01:50and therefore has nothing to do with the latest eruption. For more fact-checks and debunking,
01:56head to our website, euronews.com.
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