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

David Culley

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

@davidculley@hachyderm.io
That's gotta be against the GDPR or some other European legislation about government propaganda or some shit.

David Culley

@gme Law currently isn't worth much in Germany.

David Culley

@davidculley@hachyderm.io Seems like Germany and the US are lockstep marching towards a new world order....

vlkr

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

GhostOnTheHalfShell

@davidculley kind of funny because what happened to the guy he got his head all bloody what happened to his helmet? Yeah it’s such a garbage.

Not a Spring Onion

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

GhostOnTheHalfShell

@davidculley

any law-enforcement organization found to be generating disinformation like this should be declared illegal or and suffer criminal penalty.

phryk 🏴

@davidculley

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.

David Culley

@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

Simon

@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

Not a Spring Onion

@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.

Aline Blankertz

@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

@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.

Netraven

@davidculley look how many "agitators" there are in the background. Oh noes! Nothing can stop the radical left! /s

Btw, I didn't know there was a dress code to being radical left, or is that the only color coat sold in Germany? I don't know these things, silly me.

Rainer Zufall

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

Netraven

@davidculley Why the “it’s just symbolic / AI” defense rings hollow

Because the harm isn’t about deception in a narrow sense (“this exact event happened”). It’s about legitimizing a power narrative:

We are the injured, reasonable authority; they are the threatening crowd.

AI just makes it cheaper, faster, and safer for institutions to manufacture that affect without accountability.

Nini

@davidculley LLMs are the tools of fascism.

David Culley

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

Aline Blankertz

@davidculley

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.