Fact Check: Viral Videos Misattributed to Riyadh Airport Attacks

Numerous videos claiming to depict an attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport have gained traction online. DW Fact Check analyzed several of the most widely shared videos and determined that many were created using artificial intelligence (AI). Yemen's Houthi rebels have taken responsibility for a series of attacks on the airport, resulting in at least 16 fatalities since last Thursday, according to Saudi authorities. As reports of the attacks circulated, social media users shared videos purportedly showing the strikes. While some authentic footage of the attacks and their aftermath has been shared, DW Fact Check found that several viral videos are not genuine and exhibit characteristics typical of AI-generated content. One video, which has garnered 1.7 million views on X, claims to show the moment of an attack on the airport. However, it has been online since March 2026 and could not depict the recent attacks. The video features erratic camera movements and blurry images that obscure glitches indicative of AI generation. Frame-by-frame analysis revealed inconsistencies, such as individuals running toward an explosion, which is implausible behavior in a dangerous situation. Additionally, the video includes a moment where a hand appears and disappears from a man's head. Meta's AI identification tool confirmed the presence of AI signatures in the video. Another video, with 2.9 million views, claims to show new footage of an attack on the airport but is also AI-generated. A reverse image search traced the original image used in the video back to a stock photo database from 2016. The video contains visual discrepancies, including a light pole without lamps and a vehicle that changes shape during an explosion. Despite the actual attack on October 8 causing significant damage to a plane, this video does not accurately represent the event. A TikTok post with over 301,000 views claims to show footage recorded 'just now' from the airport, but this video also circulated in March 2026. It features visual anomalies, such as blurry images and people merging together. The video shows individuals walking through queue barriers, which appear to end mid-air. Lastly, a TikTok post with more than 500,000 views includes a compilation of videos related to the attacks and was analyzed using Google Gemini, which detected AI generation. This video also circulated on Facebook and was labeled as AI content. All four videos analyzed by DW Fact Check are brief, ranging from six to fifteen seconds, making them easier to create with AI and challenging for viewers to verify their authenticity. Daniel Ebertz contributed to this research.