AI-generated thumbnail falsely links Marcoses to Laos drug bust
An AI-generated YouTube thumbnail implicates President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in a drug trafficking operation uncovered in Laos, although authorities have not identified either as a suspect.
OpenAI's content verification tool detected a SynthID watermark in the thumbnail, identifying it as content generated using OpenAI tools.
A secondary check using SynthID Detector also found the watermark and reported that the image had been made or edited with OpenAI.
The video was posted on Oct. 11 by the YouTube channel Makata ng Bayan following the seizure of 521 kilos of crystal methamphetamine from a private jet at Luang Prabang International Airport in Laos on Oct. 1.
Philippine authorities had confirmed the arrest of a Filipino in connection with the seizure and were investigating possible local links to the drug shipment reportedly bound for the Philippines. More recently, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla named 11 persons of interest, including a former Bangsamoro Parliament member.
The thumbnail combines the images showing a handcuffed suspect escorted off a Learjet by supposed Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officers, seized narcotics being inspected aboard a ship and red arrows pointing toward the Marcos couple.
The superimposed text reads:
Tauhan ng Private Jet na nahulihan ng Droga! Itinuro na ang mastermind (Private jet crew caught with drugs! Identifies the mastermind)
The video title, “Marcos and Liza ang mastermind? Umamin na ang nahuli (Marcos and Liza were the masterminds? The suspect confessed),” further suggests the presidential couple were implicated in the drug trafficking operation.
The thumbnail contained visual inconsistencies, such as the suspect's stretched arm pointing directly at President Marcos and the first lady when both his hands were handcuffed.
The thumbnail also depicts an aircraft different from the one photographed after the Laos operation.
The reference Learjet has a curved stripe along its left fuselage and specific model markings on its left engine, while the aircraft in the thumbnail shows a different door placement, engine model and line design.
Two other detection tools, Hive and WasItAI, flagged the thumbnail as 99.9% likely generated, supporting the assessments of SynthID and OpenAI.
However, some viewers appeared to believe the accusation, posting comments blaming the Marcoses for the drug trafficking operation:
Dpat yan palayadin na dyan c Malacaniang. Tama yon ang sinabi mo kuya na cla ang sendikato c Lizatanas (They should be evicted from Malacanang. What you said is right brother, that they are the real syndicates, Lizatanas)
kya pla.gLit sa mga duterte kc cla nga pala ang shabu king at shabu queen (No wonder they hate the Dutertes, because they are the real shabu king and shabu queen)
The video posted by YouTube channel Makata ng Bayan, which has about 469,000 subscribers, had garnered 29,000 views, 2,500 reactions and 285 comments as of this writing.
Makata ng Bayan also posted the thumbnail on Facebook on Oct. 11, which had received 7,200 reactions, 2,100 comments, and 3,600 shares. The Facebook account has 1.1 million followers. (AP)
