Image allegedly shows Paris burning amid ongoing unrest. Is it real?

While real photos authentically show fires on the streets of the city, this particular claim needs a fact check. Published Oct. 21, 2026 Claim: An image is an authentic aerial shot of fires burning across Paris amid anti-government riots and demonstrations in October. Rating: As anti-government demonstrations spread across France in October, cities like Paris experienced riots and looting. Recent protests focused on rising costs of living and fuel after weeks of student demonstrations against poor school conditions. A purported aerial photograph claimed to show fires across Paris and around the Eiffel Tower. The image spread on X and Instagram and showed a red sky in the background, with numerous fires and plumes of smoke rising around the Eiffel Tower. (Threads user @lionel_saal_) The image is fake and has signs of being generated by artificial intelligence. A reverse-image search directed us to Instagram accounts that credited the original poster as a pilot named Lionel Saal on Instagram. He posted the image on Instagram and his Threads account on Oct. 18, but claimed that it had been taken on Oct. 17. We have reached out to Lionel Saal on Instagram to learn more. We ran the image through OpenAI's verification tool, which detected a SynthID, an invisible watermark that AI tools like ChatGPT embed in images they generate. The tool noted, "We found a SynthID watermark that originated from OpenAI." (We should note that OpenAI's service can only detect images generated with OpenAI's software and does not detect AI generation via other large-language models, such as Google's Gemini, which has its own SynthID detector.) There are several other signs that the image is AI-generated. The cloud line appears unnaturally straight. The smoke from the fires is all moving in the exact same direction in an unnatural manner. In many aerial night photographs of Paris, the streets are visible because of streetlights and traffic, even in foggy weather. This image, however, has no discernible streets or roads. Reputable photojournalism bank Getty Images has numerous authentic photographs from news outlets showing fires on the streets of Paris. Some of these fires occurred near the Eiffel Tower. Police fired tear gas at protesters around the Eiffel Tower as well. For further reading, Snopes has been covering misinformation surrounding the protests in France. Sources "A General View Taken at Night Shows Paris and the Eiffel Tower During..." Getty Images, 15 July 2012, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/general-view-taken-at-night-shows-paris-and-the-eiffel-news-photo/148370473. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."A Protester Kicks Back a Tear Gas Fired by Police during a..." Getty Images, 13 Oct. 2026, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-kicks-back-a-tear-gas-fired-by-police-during-a-news-photo/2299481367. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."Huge Riots and Antigovernment Protests in France: What to Know." The New York Times, 20 Oct. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/article/france-student-protests-why.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."Police Clash with Protesters during a Demonstration amid a Nationwide..." Getty Images, 18 Oct. 2026, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-clash-with-protesters-during-a-demonstration-amid-a-news-photo/2300383575. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."Police Officers Stand near a Fire during an Unauthorized..." Getty Images, 19 Oct. 2026, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-officers-stand-near-a-fire-during-an-unauthorized-news-photo/2300429375. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Did French Rioters Target Synagogue and Jewish Businesses, but Spare Muslim Ones?" Snopes, 19 Oct. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//news/2026/10/19/france-riots-synagogue-jewish-businesses/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."This Aerial Photograph Taken on February 23, 2024 Shows the City Of..." Getty Images, 24 Feb. 2024, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/this-aerial-photograph-taken-on-february-23-2024-shows-the-news-photo/2026916775. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."TOPSHOT - A Fire Is Seen with the Eiffel Tower in the Background..." Getty Images, 17 Oct. 2026, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fire-is-seen-with-the-eiffel-tower-in-the-background-during-news-photo/2300139258. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."Unrest Mars Day of Protest in France, as Student Movement Turns National." The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/17/world/europe/france-protest-riots-marseille.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026."Verify OpenAI-Generated Content." OpenAI, https://openai.com/research/verify/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026. By Nur Ibrahim Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing. Article Tags