This article was obtained through USA Today and written by Chris Mueller • 9/9/2023
The claim: Images show evidence of 'satanism in public schools'
An Aug. 22 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows a person talking alongside images of schoolchildren wearing horns and sitting around a pentagram.
"Satanism in public schools," reads on-screen text in the video. "Seen what's going on in public schools around the United States watch this."
Several commenters appeared to believe the images were real.
"I cannot tell you how mad that makes me!" reads one comment. "We can't have God in school but this is OK?"
The video was shared more than 500 times in two weeks.
Our rating: Altered
The images were made using artificial intelligence, according to their creator. An expert who examined the images found multiple clues that they are not authentic.
Images were created using AI program
The images were originally posted on Facebook on May 2 by a user named Pumpkin Empress who later edited the post to say, "This is not real. I created these pics with AI (artificial intelligence) software. The children are not real, this never happened."
The user, who is a digital creator, explained in a May 8 post that the images were created using Midjourney, a popular image generator.
"No, these are not pics actually taken," reads the post. "They were generated just in fun."
Holly Alvarez, who runs the Pumpkin Empress account, confirmed to USA TODAY in an email that the images were created using AI, saying, "I used software to create them, as I do with most of my creations."
O'Brien also pointed out some "malformed bodies" in the images, including abnormal hands in both images that show children wearing horns. While a few other issues with the images aren't physically impossible, he said, they're still difficult to explain, including lines that don't seem to line up in one of the images of children sitting around a pentagram.
The images look as if someone created them using AI but did not spend any time touching them up or trying to hide any imperfections, O'Brien said.
"I don’t think the creator tried to fool people, or if they did they didn’t make much of an effort," he said. "Some of the images could be cleaned up by a skilled Photoshop user."
USA TODAY has previously debunked similar false claims, including that images showed satanic merchandise for sale at Target, a satanic hotel opening in Texas and satanic statues being sold at Hobby Lobby.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- James O'Brien, Sept. 5, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Holly Alvarez, Sept. 5, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- The Pumpkin Empress, May 2, Facebook post
- The Pumpkin Empress, May 8, Facebook post
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