Following the overthrow of the Assad regime, thousands of prisoners were released from the notorious Sentnaya prison, 30 kilometers north of the capital Damascus. Since that day, the internet has been teeming with photos of the so-called “slaughterhouse”. But not all of them are real. Many of them are the product of Artificial Intelligence for the purpose of misinformation.

IBraim Al-Asil of the Middle East Institute says in an interview with DW: “We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who have been detained and tortured for decades. Almost every family in Syria has lost someone or knows someone who has disappeared, never to be heard from again. The pain of the victims and the relief of their relatives are no doubt real, some photos online are however doctored”.

DW’s Verification Team (DW Fact Check) investigated some of the claims that have gone viral on the internet because fake news denies reality and contributes to misinformation about the Assad regime’s atrocities.

Artificial intelligence product of the image of the prisoner in a hole

Claim: “The photo depicts a terrified prisoner emerging from a hole in Sednaya prison,” reads a post in Arabic on X.

DW verification team: false claim.

The photo does not show a prisoner in the infamous prison. It belongs to a video on X, which was posted on TikTokon December 3, 2024 with a clear indication that it was created by artificial intelligence. Allegations of underground cells in Sednaya continue to spread despite the lack of evidence.

Artificial intelligence product of video showing toddler in underground cells in Sednaya

.

Claim: The video shows an infant in underground cells in Sednaya. It is one minute long, was widely shared on TikTok and recorded over 2.7 million views. It begins with a close-up of a child peering through a small opening in rubble or debris with one arm sticking out. It is followed by a satellite shot of the Sednaya prison, accompanied by a voiceover claiming that the prison has hidden underground cells where inmates have no access to food, water or fresh air.

DW verification team: false claim.

The video appears to have come from a TikTok account that has now been deleted, but on which videos of the child have been appearing regularly recently. The same material has been circulating in recent weeks with various false claims. Among other things, that it depicts a child in Gaza trapped under rubble after an Israeli airstrike.

Claims of hidden underground cells in Sednaya are also refuted by the White Helmets. On 9 December, the Syrian rescuers’ group “White Helmets”, linked to the jihadist rebels, conducted a thorough search of the detention cells using trained dogs.

The dissemination of false news and photographic material about the Assad regime’s crimes undermines efforts to document and investigate them, making it more difficult to hold them accountable. The dissemination of falsified news and photographs may benefit those responsible for the regime and deny their actions and responsibilities. Fake news therefore undermines efforts to restore the truth and the work of the judiciary.