So here’s the wild thing about the social media world: we’ve just endured a horrific mass shooting at Bondi Beach – a real tragedy that killed and injured innocent people – but within minutes, the internet started cranking out digital illusions and tall tales like a conspiracy factory on overdrive.

Folks online whipped up AI-generated pictures showing one of the alleged shooters in scenarios that never happened – like sharing a table with a foreign official in a café. And, yes, that image was completely made up with AI tools, but that didn’t stop it from spreading like wildfire.

And if you thought that was absurd, wait – someone used AI to stitch together a phony social profile that supposedly belonged to the shooter, complete with fabricated details and symbols designed to feed antisemitic rumors. That fake screenshot has been shared millions of times.

Meanwhile, other posts took real video and twisted it into something it wasn’t – like labeling a fireworks clip from elsewhere as celebratory scenes after the attack – and then people kept reposting it.

And let’s not forget the hate and harassment that sprang up too – including misogynistic commentary targeting the brave female police officers who responded, based on misleading visuals pulled out of context.

The bottom line? In today’s digital public square, truth gets tangled with fiction within minutes, and humans – not technology – are the ones choosing to share it. So next time you scroll through sensational stuff in a crisis, take a deep breath: half of what you see might just be smoke and mirrors.