AI images from Beaver Scouts mosque visit circulate online - Full Fact

On June 10, 2026, fabricated images depicting a Beaver Scout group visiting a mosque began circulating on social media. These AI-generated photos, which do not match real footage of the event, have been identified as completely synthetic rather than edited versions of genuine imagery.

What happened

The incident involved the distribution of entirely fabricated pictures showing children in a mosque setting. These images differed significantly from real footage of a Beaver Scout visit in Scotland, featuring different children, different clothing, and a different room. The synthetic nature of the content was confirmed by the presence of a SynthID watermark, indicating the images were generated using OpenAI tools such as ChatGPT, the OpenAI API, or Codex.

This follows a previous incident where a genuine image of the same group visit was edited to include a man who was not present in the original footage. While the real event in Scotland, which showed several children kneeling and one boy standing, had already received public attention and criticism on social media, the new AI-generated content introduced entirely artificial scenes. Fact checkers have rated these images as altered and advise users to verify the source of content before sharing, utilizing tools and guides to identify AI-generated material.