Mastodawn

German police¹ is using ChatGPT to fake images of injured police officers.

After a soccer match with believable hooligan violence against police officers, the German union of police officers (GdP) rightly condemns violence against police officers.

However, instead of using real footage for their press release² of the actual violence that was actually committed, they used some AI-generated fake image and denoted that fact only with a teeny-tiny note in the corner, saying "AI-generated: ChatGPT".

I find this very problematic.

The news report mentioned several injured police officers, some badly injured, and the fake image shows an officer bleeding from his forehead. I have no way to know if any officer was actually bleeding from his head or if this is an exaggeration to make a point. In a time when politicians call for ever more surveillance and ever more power for police officers, this can function as dangerous misinformation.

Especially considering that the Nazis are growing ever stronger and our so-called democratic political parties are building a police state for them. Manufacturing consent using fake images of violence against police officers is dangerous.

Although this was a soccer match, not an anti-genocide protest, and soccer matches occasionally attract violent hooligans, protests are almost always peaceful. At least until the police starts the violence and beats up anyone who protests against fossil fuels or genocide. If we allow police to use AI-generated images in their press releases, then we cannot believe them anything anymore at all. If people still believe them, anyway.

Condemning violence only when it hits them is also hypocritical.

Police is already instigating and inciting against imagined "violent radical leftists", even before/without the use of AI fakes.

The GdP isn't innocent. Just two months ago when the modern NSDAP wanted to start their Hitler Youth equivalent and people peacefully blocked the roads, whereafter the police played taxi for officially recognized Nazis, the GdP said "the radical leftists showed their ugly face and violence".

It's inacceptable for the police to fake images of violence against police.

¹ Sachsen, not even the infamous Berlin police
² https://www.gdp.de/sachsen/de/stories/2026/01/gewalt-im-fussballspiel-magdeburg-gegen-dresden

David Culley Jan 27

I heavily edited my initial posting, which I think needed some clarification to not spread misinformation.

@davidculley The many pockets on their vests are mostly for all their extra fingers.

Not a Spring Onion Jan 27

@davidculley "Since we didn't have any actual injured officers, we had to fake some."

David Culley Jan 27

@wakame In a tiny footnote that they added >> after several people complained <<, they even write:

> Zur Verdeutlichung und Transparenz weisen wir noch einmal darauf hin, dass es sich bei der Darstellung um ein KI-generiertes Bild handelt, welches nicht die eigentliche Einsatzsituation vorgeben soll.

Translation: "To make it clear, and for transparency, we point out again that the image is AI-generated and not supposed to show what truly happened."

What the fuck?!

1. They admit to lying.
2. Instead of removing their lies (or not posting them in the first place), they add a teeny tiny footnote, saying not to believe what they post.

Source: https://www.gdp.de/sachsen/de/stories/2026/01/gewalt-im-fussballspiel-magdeburg-gegen-dresden

Not a Spring Onion Jan 27

@davidculley
In the meantime, I have found credible evidence that these elite officers were actually involved in a top-secret mission to raid an abandoned science lab on Monday.

@davidculley
We should be 'glad' that they still bother posting any disclaimer, however teeny tiny, whatsoever. The next step is to just post AI generated content without disclaimers.

We live in an age where it's becoming harder and harder to tell truth from fiction, thanks to AI and people are willingly embracing it.
@wakame

@wakame @davidculley

No idea why they posted an AI generated photo, but there were still a lot of injured officers.

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/sachsenanhalt/ausschreitungen-magdeburg-102.html

64 Polizisten bei Zweitligaspiel in Magdeburg verletzt

<strong>Die Polizei ermittelt nach dem Hochrisikospiel in der zweiten Fußball-Bundesliga zwischen dem 1.FC Magdeburg und Dynamo Dresden. Dabei geht es um Gewalt sowohl in als auch außerhalb der Arena.</strong>

tagesschau.de

@simonriley @wakame @davidculley Immer daran denken: Da steht nicht, wodurch die Verletzung ausgelöst wurde.

Ich nehme mit Sicherheit keine Hools in Schutz, aber schon wenn jemand sich einen Fuß umknickt oder das eigene Tränengas einatmet zählt das in die Statistik.

Eigentlich unverständlich, dass das immer noch als Benchmark für die Schwere von Krawallen genommen wird.

@eingemaischt @wakame @davidculley

Berechtigter Einwand, wir wissen nicht, was die Verletzungen genau waren.

Dass aber BeamtInnen zur Behandlung ins Krankenhaus gehen, ist dennoch eher ungewöhnlich. Die von dir angesprochenen Verletzungen werden, wenn überhaupt, ambulant behandelt.

@simonriley @wakame @davidculley das sind dann aber auch nur 16 statt 64 aus der Headline. Und selbst die Zahl ist manipulierbar.

Noch einmal det Disclaimer : Ich weiß nicht, was hier abging. Es geht mir nur darum zu betonen, dass die Zahl der Verletzten kein Benchmark ist.

Fabiano Celentano Jan 28

@simonriley @wakame @davidculley Warum gibt's dann nur ein gefälschtes Bild von ausgedachten Verletzungen?

David Culley Jan 28

@fabio Es gibt nicht "nur" das fake image.

Im wohlwollendendsten Fall nehme ich an, dass die verantwortliche Person es einfach bequemer fand, mittels ChatGPT innerhalb von 5 Minuten ein geeignetes Bild zu haben, als sich ewig lang durch Videos auf der Suche nach einem geeignete Frame zu wühlen. Nochmal: Das ist der wohlwollendste Fall ohne Täuschungsabsicht.

Fabiano Celentano Jan 28

@davidculley Okay, wo finde ich dann die echten Bilder der verletzten Polizist*innen? Weder die GdP Propaganda noch der MDR Artikel enthalten auch nur ein einziges.

@simonriley
If that's the point they wanted to draw attention to, then they should've used actual images from the actual event.

All they've achieved instead is shifting the focus to the utterly unnecessary use of AI, and the untrustworthiness of their institution.

I care infinitely more about that than the 64 injured officers.

@wakame @davidculley

phryk 🏴Jan 27

For anyone wondering about verification:

The alt-text of the image is "Gewalt gegen Polizei | © KI-generiert: ChatGPT" ("Violence against police | © AI-generated: ChatGPT").

So technically they admit it, but not in a way a normal user gets to see.

I archived the page of the article at https://archive.ph/aD53r for further independent verification in case the GdP removes this.

Aline Blankertz Jan 27

@davidculley
Thanks for adding the clarification!

Still, I find the AI generation of what is supposed to look like evidence of violence against the police outrageous, even in cases where there was violence against a police officer. I mean, in fact, I find the use of AI to provide something that looks like evidence terrible in any case; it is just worse if by a public institution, and even worse if supposedly documenting violence.

David Culley Jan 27

@alineblankertz Thank you. I admit I was a bit too quick ranting about police, given all the negative and unmistakable experiences in recent and not so recent past.

I condemn violent soccer fans. I don't even consider them fans. True fans are there to enjoy the sport and watch their team. But these folks only come for acting out their violence. And destroy the reputation of "their team". A fan wouldn't do that.

- There was actual use of pyrotechnics.
- Hooligans did actually throw stones at police officers.
- There probably were dozens of officers with broken bones and similar injuries.

Police has all that on video/film. Why not use a picture—any picture—of that? That way everyone believes that out-of-control violent hooligans throw dangerous stuff at police officers.

Why generate some crappy AI image that destroys all trust in their coverage? How am I supposed to believe this violence against police officers is something that actually happened and not just pulled out of their ass like so many of their lies, after escorting Nazis or beating up genocide protestors.

I expect something else from news coverage.

Aline Blankertz Jan 27

Imho this is not about what position we hold on football hooligans or on violence against police under different circumstances.

This is about whether the police can be trusted (ha!) if it uses AI fakes to “illustrate” acts of violence. There might even be (legal, moral or other) reasons for not using actual footage - but then just report on the facts without a photo. It’s that simple.

David Culley Jan 27

@alineblankertz Yes! Better no picture than an AI-generated one.

While you were writing your comment, I completely revamped my initial post. I don't know if you already saw it. I had to admit that I wrote my initial post too rashly.

Rainer Zufall Jan 27

@davidculley And of the two German unions for uniformed police (as opposed to detevtives), this is the slightly less problematic one 🙈

Werawelt Jan 27

@davidculley Ich stimme dem zu, dass zur Darstellung der erlittenen Gewalt der #Polizei durch die Hooligans keine KI-Bilder von der Polizei oder anderen staatlichen Stellen verbreitet werden sollten. Niemand braucht sowas! Habe sowas hier auch schon von einer politischen Partei gesehen, die reale Politiker mit KI verfälschte. Ich bin grundsätzlich gegen "Fotos" und Videos von #KI. Diese Art der Verfälschung als angebliches Foto zerstört das Vertrauen in Fotos allgemein.
Heute glauben wir noch den Handy-Videos aus Minneanapolis. Doch werden wir das noch in 10 Jahren können? KI zerstört hiermit die #Demokratie.

@werawelt
Stimmt. Gut gesagt. 🙏🏻

(True. Well said.)

Werawelt Jan 27

@Su_G 🙂 @davidculley

utopiArte Jan 29

Gut gesagt @davidculley?

So als Aufschlag oder Steilpass vielleicht.

Das ist ja wohl oberste Schublade populistische demagogische Fakenews.

Das gleiche von Opfern staatlicher Gewalt, z.B. in Sachen foltern mit Schmerzgriffen und es hagelt Gerichtsverfahren, Hausdurchsuchungen und Pressepranger.

@werawelt @Su_G

The Watcher Jan 27

@werawelt @davidculley

> KI zerstört hiermit die Demokratie.

Sie zerstört noch viel mehr als nur die Demokratie: sie hat die Macht, den Glauben an alles zu zerstören, weil man schliesslich nichts mehr glauben kann. Es entsteht eine kafkaeske Welt.

Werawelt Jan 27

@watcher2026
Ja!
@davidculley

Peter 🦈Jan 28

@watcher2026 @werawelt @davidculley
Darauf ist die Menschheit nicht vorbereitet

Silo 🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦Jan 27

@davidculley
Any reasonable person would see their treachery as a reason to withhold sympathy instead of giving it.

That is the true loss of the schemers. They shoot themselves in the foot with this.

@davidculley
German #Police are completely undermining their own credibility - as you say. With one #AI-generated image they have removed credibility from all police-presented ‘#evidence’ - both future and past. That they can’t see this is astonishing. Not rocket science! More or some ethics training urgently needed. 😐

“If we allow police to use AI-generated images in their press releases, then we cannot believe them anything anymore at all. If people still believe them, anyway.”

Also amazing that their legal dept would clear this & not see the implications. 😐

全知全能大先生 Jan 28

@davidculley Well, should they have used German based #Flux?

Claudius Link Jan 28

@davidculley
Not to forget, the injured policemen statistics include the ones who have sprained their ankle when exiting their vehicle or tripped over stuff or just feel down without anyone's involvement.

David Culley Jan 28

@realn2s Yes, for protests against fossil fuels or genocide, I don't trust their statistics one bit. For soccer matches with violent hooligans who throw stones, I am much more inclined to believe that the police officers were actually injured by a stone thrown at them, rather than by tripping over themselves.

Stefan Schmidt Jan 28

@davidculley GdP != P(olice) their takes are often leaning far right demanding more surveillance and more rights for the police and so on. I am not surprised.

@davidculley @zaphodb Ja, Polizei ≠ GdP.

Aber kann es sein, dass du die GdP mit der DPolG verwechselst?

Blyatskrieg Jan 28

@davidculley also worth noting that police that walks through smoke clouds of pyro is counted as injured.

Karl Schwartzmuller Jan 28

@davidculley L’un des principaux syndicats de #police allemands, qui représente plus de 180 000 personnes, publie une fausse image, générée par #IA, en « une » d’un de ses sites web, pour illustrer les émeutes survenues à Magdebourg en marge d’un match de foot.
https://www.gdp.de/sachsen/de/stories/2026/01/gewalt-im-fussballspiel-magdeburg-gegen-dresden

Gewalt im Fußballspiel Magdeburg gegen Dresden

Susan Ramirez Jan 29

@davidculley Is it The Attack of the Clones? These guys all have the same face, am I right?

@davidculley traue Keinem Polizisten.

Karl Heinz Häsliprinz Jan 31

@davidculley Polizei lügt neu auch in Bilder, nach 150 Jahren Lügen in Wort und Text.

Jibel mit einem B Jan 31

@davidculley jo digga. die macht der bilder ist für menschliche gehirne nicht zu stoppen. daher bitte kennzeichne das bild im deinem post bitte und verbreite es auch nicht (im bild) unkommentiert. so wie netzpolitik das gemacht haben z. b.

die polizei hat ein #polizeiproblem das sie selber nicht klar einordnen kann. ihre eigene »gemäsigte« gewerkschaft eumelt rum und schwurbelt für ihre zielgruppe (unangenehme menschen) rum. das kommt auch von einem ausbleibenden #prüfverfahren #uncool

@davidculley
Maybe it could be clearer that it was the police Union, not the official police account.

Der Logiker Jan 31

@davidculley The image is gone.

Rock'n'Roll_φapy 🔻Jan 31

@davidculley
Le problème - comme d'hab - c'est que les formations de droite et d'extrême-droite, il y a déjà longtemps qu'on ne distingue plus la limite, et même maintenant la police et les gouvernements fascistes (DOJ US, Trump ...), se mettent à utiliser massivement ces outils pour alimenter leurs mensonges et leur #intox, face à des gauches qui s'imaginent "au dessus" de ce genre de manipulation.
(../..)

Rock'n'Roll_φapy 🔻Jan 31

@davidculley
(../..)
When lawless scoundrels attack law-abiding citizens, it is always the scoundrels who win. I have always been struck by the vulnerability and credibility of honest people in the face of lies, which explains the success of swindlers and justifies the proverb: “The bigger the lie, the more people believe it”: honest people are totally incapable of conceiving that someone can lie calmly and with confidence.

@davidculley they took the picture off from the article but luckily it's on the archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20260126211237/https://www.gdp.de/sachsen/de/stories/2026/01/gewalt-im-fussballspiel-magdeburg-gegen-dresden

Gewalt im Fußballspiel Magdeburg gegen Dresden

@davidculley I didnt dare to believe this happening but by now found multiple sources that verify it https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/ki-bild-polizeigewerkschaft-kritik-medienethek-100.html

Sächsische Polizeigewerkschaft verteidigt KI-Bild nach Ausschreitungen bei Dynamo-Spiel

Nach Kritik an einem KI‑Bild zu den Magdeburg-Ausschreitungen mit 75 verletzten Polizisten hält die Polizeigewerkschaft Sachsen die Verwendung für vertretbar. Eine Medienethikerin Heese warnt vor Glaubwürdigkeitsverlust.

MDR

@davidculley While in #Germany this is done by the Union of #Police Officers in #Italy the police itself does manipulate photos with #ai.

https://www.facta.news/articoli/polizia-ha-diffuso-foto-scontri-torino-intelligenza-artificiale-teoria-complotto

La polizia ha diffuso una foto degli scontri di Torino alterata con l’IA, scatenando una vera e propria teoria del complotto

<p>L’immagine è stata utilizzata sui social media per accusare l’agente aggredito di mentire</p>

Facta