Fake News, Real Fingers: How AI Slip-Ups Are Giving Away Fake Social Media Posts
It's tempting to think that seeing is believing, but that's not always the case. When scrolling the internet, it's important to put on your skepticism hat. There's a lot of fake stuff out there, and some of it is convincing.
For example, a Facebook post appeared to come from York Council — the local government office for the city of York, England. It asked people with spare rooms to house asylum seekers (people who have fled their home country and are asking a government for protection). The post wasn't real, but it spread quickly across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. BBC Verify, the BBC's fact-checking team, estimated it could have reached more than a million people.
Misinformation like this can cause real problems, especially when it spreads about sensitive subjects like asylum seekers. Repeated exposure to false information can also make people question what's true at all — damaging trust between people and communities.
So how can you tell what's fake? Even careful readers are finding it harder to spot, while fake content is getting easier to make — a dangerous combination. The fake council post looked convincing: it had an official logo, professional-sounding text, and even a real email address. But a few small details gave it away: the logo was slightly distorted, some words were misspelled, parts of the image looked unnatural, and the AI-generated hands had too many fingers.
Those details are easy to miss when scrolling quickly — but learning to spot them is exactly what makes the difference between falling for a fake and catching one.
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At first, he dressed like a cowboy, but looking the part wasn't enough — he wanted the real experience. So he joined the cattle industry, learning to ride horses and work with livestock. Maybe he even learned to appreciate the smell of cow manure — or at least not complain about it.
After more than a decade in the United States, cowboy culture has become an important part of his identity, and he says it will stay with him even if he returns to China one day. By sharing his story, Bruce hopes people in China and the United States will better understand one another despite ongoing political tensions. What a moooooooo-ving story.
The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) is an annual motorcycle racing event held over two weeks in late May and early June. It's widely regarded as the world's fastest and most dangerous road race, and it draws fans from around the world.
Though the race is more than 100 years old, this year's event had some extra excitement. Channing Tatum and Eve Hewson were there filming scenes for a new Amazon MGM movie inspired by the TT. Parts of the film were shot alongside the real races, with film crews mixing in among actual competitors and fans. The movie is called Isle of Man, and Brad Pitt is one of its producers.
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After almost 1,000 years, the historic Bayeux Tapestry is back where it began.
The 11th Century artwork is thought to have been made in Britain, and it's now on display at the British Museum — one of the UK's largest national museums, located in London — while on loan from France until summer 2027. Think of it as the original comic strip: instead of panels, it uses a continuous, nearly 70-meter-long strip of embroidered fabric (about the length of a football field) to tell the story frame by frame, image after image, all the way across.
The story it tells is the Norman Conquest of 1066: the year William the Conqueror, a duke from Normandy in modern-day France, invaded England and took the throne. Like a comic laid end to end, the tapestry shows the buildup, the battle, and the aftermath — soldiers, ships, horses, and even Halley's Comet all stitched into the sequence. That invasion permanently changed England's ruling family, language, and culture, and is often seen as the starting point of the modern British monarchy.
Moving the tapestry took hours of extremely careful work, since it's so old and delicate. Even people standing near it had to wear protective clothing so stray fibers wouldn't end up on the fabric. It's now displayed flat, inside a protective glass case. Safe to say, it may look like a large piece of fabric, but it's definitely not something you'd want to wipe your hands on if you're missing a napkin.
The loan is also part of a bigger cultural exchange between France and Britain — two neighboring countries separated by the narrow English Channel, with a long and sometimes tense shared history. In exchange for the tapestry, Britain is lending important historical objects of its own back to France.
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FIFA wouldn't confirm Infantino was on board, but BBC Verify tracked flight data from a private jet reportedly linked to him. The plane's movements lined up with Infantino's appearances in host cities. Over about a month, that jet flew 46 times — sometimes three flights in a single day.
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At first, he dressed like a cowboy, but looking the part wasn't enough — he wanted the real experience. So he joined the cattle industry, learning to ride horses and work with livestock. Maybe he even learned to appreciate the smell of cow manure — or at least not complain about it.
After more than a decade in the United States, cowboy culture has become an important part of his identity, and he says it will stay with him even if he returns to China one day. By sharing his story, Bruce hopes people in China and the United States will better understand one another despite ongoing political tensions. What a moooooooo-ving story.
The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) is an annual motorcycle racing event held over two weeks in late May and early June. It's widely regarded as the world's fastest and most dangerous road race, and it draws fans from around the world.
Though the race is more than 100 years old, this year's event had some extra excitement. Channing Tatum and Eve Hewson were there filming scenes for a new Amazon MGM movie inspired by the TT. Parts of the film were shot alongside the real races, with film crews mixing in among actual competitors and fans. The movie is called Isle of Man, and Brad Pitt is one of its producers.
Movie stars weren't the only famous faces in the crowd — spectators also included Formula One drivers Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber and cyclist Mark Cavendish. Fans of movies and motorcycles alike had plenty to be excited about at this year's race.
After almost 1,000 years, the historic Bayeux Tapestry is back where it began.
The 11th Century artwork is thought to have been made in Britain, and it's now on display at the British Museum — one of the UK's largest national museums, located in London — while on loan from France until summer 2027. Think of it as the original comic strip: instead of panels, it uses a continuous, nearly 70-meter-long strip of embroidered fabric (about the length of a football field) to tell the story frame by frame, image after image, all the way across.
The story it tells is the Norman Conquest of 1066: the year William the Conqueror, a duke from Normandy in modern-day France, invaded England and took the throne. Like a comic laid end to end, the tapestry shows the buildup, the battle, and the aftermath — soldiers, ships, horses, and even Halley's Comet all stitched into the sequence. That invasion permanently changed England's ruling family, language, and culture, and is often seen as the starting point of the modern British monarchy.
Moving the tapestry took hours of extremely careful work, since it's so old and delicate. Even people standing near it had to wear protective clothing so stray fibers wouldn't end up on the fabric. It's now displayed flat, inside a protective glass case. Safe to say, it may look like a large piece of fabric, but it's definitely not something you'd want to wipe your hands on if you're missing a napkin.
The loan is also part of a bigger cultural exchange between France and Britain — two neighboring countries separated by the narrow English Channel, with a long and sometimes tense shared history. In exchange for the tapestry, Britain is lending important historical objects of its own back to France.
50,000 air miles. That's enough to circle the entire planet twice — and it's how far a private jet reportedly linked to FIFA President Gianni Infantino flew during the 2026 World Cup. In just over a month, Infantino attended 41 matches across North America, sometimes appearing at games in cities hundreds of miles apart on the same day. No, he didn't discover teleportation, and he definitely didn't outrun Messi or Mbappé. The real answer is a lot simpler — and a lot more expensive for the planet.
FIFA wouldn't confirm Infantino was on board, but BBC Verify tracked flight data from a private jet reportedly linked to him. The plane's movements lined up with Infantino's appearances in host cities. Over about a month, that jet flew 46 times — sometimes three flights in a single day.
All that flying comes at a real cost to the climate. Experts estimate the jet's emissions were roughly equal to one year's carbon footprint for 135 average people. That's a striking number, especially since FIFA had made environmental promises for the tournament, including grouping teams regionally — specifically to cut down on long-distance travel.