FALSE
Multiple viral images claiming to show Assad's underground bunker, secret prison cells with emaciated prisoners, or torture chambers were debunked. Some were AI-generated (showing telltale signs like distorted hands and impossible lighting), others were misattributed from Vietnam War exhibits or stock photos. Genuine footage from Saydnaya Prison exists, but these specific viral images are fabrications.
Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2025, social media was flooded with purported images of underground facilities, prison cells, and torture chambers. Full Fact, AAP, Reuters, and multiple fact-checking organizations documented that many of the most viral images were either AI-generated or misattributed from other sources. While the Assad regime's documented atrocities at facilities like Saydnaya Prison are real, these specific viral images exploited genuine outrage with fabricated content.
The Viral Images
In the days following Assad's fall, multiple images went viral claiming to show underground prison cells with emaciated prisoners, Assad's hidden bunker, and torture facilities [1]. Some accumulated millions of views within hours.
AAP documented at least five distinct fake images that each reached over 1 million views on X/Twitter and TikTok [2].
AI Generation Evidence
Full Fact identified multiple AI generation indicators in the most-shared "underground prisoner" image: impossible hand anatomy, inconsistent lighting direction, and texture patterns consistent with diffusion model outputs [1].
Bellingcat's analysis confirmed AI generation using multiple detection tools, noting the image showed a person in a pose physically impossible due to the depicted cell dimensions [6].
Misattributed Images
Other viral images were real photos misattributed to Syria. One widely-shared "torture chamber" photo was traced to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City [8].
Reuters identified another viral "Assad bunker" image as a stock photo of an abandoned facility in Eastern Europe [5].
The Real Atrocities
Importantly, documenting these fake images does not diminish the Assad regime's real and documented atrocities. Amnesty International and the UN have extensively documented torture and deaths at Saydnaya Prison [4].
Genuine footage and survivor testimony from Syrian prisons exists. The problem is that fake images crowd out real documentation and provide fodder for regime defenders to claim all evidence is fabricated [15].
Why Fake Images Spread
DFRLab analysis found that AI-generated images often spread faster than real documentation because they're designed to be maximally emotionally impactful [3].
Verify-Sy, a Syrian fact-checking organization, noted that well-meaning people shared fake images believing they were helping document atrocities, inadvertently undermining credibility of genuine evidence [10].
Conclusion
These specific viral images claiming to show Assad's underground facilities are demonstrably fake - either AI-generated or misattributed from other sources. This does not change the documented reality of the Assad regime's atrocities. But fake images harm accountability efforts by providing ammunition for denialism and eroding trust in genuine documentation.