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Images spread online supposedly showing Disney World in Florida underwater as a result of Hurricane Milton appear to be fake and have been generated using artificial intelligence.
Disney World, located in Orlando, Florida, announced they would close their theme parks amid rare measures ahead of the dangerous Hurricane Milton directly hitting the area, bringing with it strong winds, heavy rainfall and hazardous storm surge.
As Milton made landfall on Wednesday, all three Orlando-based parks, including Universal Orlando and SeaWorld alongside Disney, ground to a halt and shut down operations that would have usually welcomed tens of thousands of tourists.
However, while the parks were closed, what appears to be three AI-generated images started to circulate, claiming to show the Magic Kingdom at Florida’s Walt Disney World flooded and submerged in water, with the recognisable Cinderella Castle at the back of one of the fake images.
Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California-Berkeley, told AFP Fact Check that all three images shared online were likely AI-generated.
"There are tell-tale and obvious structural defects in all images, including inconsistent reflections in the water," he said in an October 10 email.
"In addition, our models trained to distinguish real from AI-generated images flag these images as likely AI-generated."
The images appeared to have circulated on a number of social media platforms, gaining millions of views on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, as well as a number of websites reporting on the storm, AFP found.
Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti also reposted the images on Thursday (10 October) on their Telegram channel, with the post having over 600,000 views as of Friday.
“Social media users post photos of Disneyland in Florida flooded by Hurricane Milton,” RIA’s post was captioned.
It is unclear what source these AI-generated images appeared from.
In an update posted by Disney World on Thursday (10 October), they said that their Florida Walt Dinsey World Resort had “weathered the storm”.
They added that their theme parks and Disney Springs, their shopping and dining complex, would reopen on Friday (11 October).
“Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm,” they added.
Serious floodwaters have affected other areas of the state, leaving houses and buildings damaged. Milton brought high amounts of rainfall after making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night.
After arriving in Sarasota County’s Siesta Key, creating dozens of tornadoes, 28-foot waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and devastating storm surge, there have been at least 16 who have died as a result in the state.
All wind and storm surge warnings for Milton have been discontinued as of Friday after the hurricane exited Florida’s east coast.
The National Hurricane Center warned that “hazards remain” due to damaged buildings, downed power lines and floodwaters.
The Independent has contacted Disney Parks for comment.
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