Fox News broadcasts racist AI-generated SNAP videos as real news
AI-generated videos created with OpenAI's Sora depicting stereotypical depictions of Black women on SNAP benefits circulated widely on social media. Fox News reportedly broadcast these videos as real news without identifying them as synthetic media, amplifying racist stereotypes and misinformation about welfare recipients.
What happened
AI-generated videos created using Sora have been circulating widely on social media platforms including TikTok and YouTube. The videos depict mostly Black women in stereotypical scenarios related to SNAP benefits, including arguing over declined EBT payments, stealing from stores, and boasting about public assistance. Fox News broadcast these videos as if they were real news, presenting the content as factual reporting rather than identifying it as AI-generated synthetic media.
Reported impact
The videos spread misinformation about the 41 million Americans who receive SNAP benefits and perpetuate the 'welfare queen' stereotype from the 1970s and 1980s. Viewers engage with racist stereotypes through comments like 'Free ride is over' and 'That's why the government is taking SNAP away,' reinforcing harmful beliefs about public assistance recipients. The circulation of this content risks stigmatizing SNAP recipients and could inform public policy decisions.
Index analysis
According to Pew Research Center data, white people account for 44.6% of adult SNAP recipients and 31.5% of child recipients, contradicting the racial representation in the AI videos. For adult recipients, 27% are Black, 21.9% are Latine, and Asian Americans make up just under 4%. The AI-generated videos blur the lines between fact and fiction to confirm viewers' worst beliefs about welfare recipients, despite being obviously fake.
Governance controls
HuffPost reached out to OpenAI to ask if this kind of content violates the company's standards for Sora-generated videos but did not receive a response.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.