AI-generated video of Spanish military confronting…

In early August 2026, an AI-generated video circulated on social media platforms falsely depicting the Spanish military throwing pork at migrants entering the territory of Ceuta. The fabricated footage was used to promote Islamophobic narratives following a real-world diplomatic crisis involving a mass influx of migrants from Morocco.

What happened

The 15-second clip features uniformed personnel throwing flesh at a crowd near a military vehicle labeled "Bacon squad." The video emerged as misinformation following the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in Ceuta in late July 2026. Because pork is forbidden in Islam, the video was used to stoke religious tensions, particularly within Hindu-majority India, where social media users suggested adopting similar tactics against Muslim populations in other regions.

AFP traced the video to a creator on the platform Yapper, who confirmed on July 31 that the clip was fabricated using Seedance 2.0, an AI model developed by ByteDance. Technical analysis corroborated the creator’s admission: Hive Moderation estimated a 99.7 percent probability that the video was synthetic, and human observers noted visual artifacts such as the unnatural appearance of hands and the sudden disappearance of a person's torso. Despite these clear indicators of manipulation and the fact that the video did not depict the actual events in Ceuta, the post gained significant traction and encouraged hostile commentary before being identified as a hoax.