An image can mislead in three different ways: it can be AI-generated, it can be edited, or it can be authentic but used in a context other than the real one. Justificat.ro treats them separately, because they require different checks, and reports authenticity distinctly from the factual verdict.
The most effective check is not technical but contextual: reverse-search the image to see where and when it appeared before. Most "viral" images are real, old photographs attributed to a new event. If the same photo appears with three different captions, the context is the problem, not the pixels.
Hands and fingers remain the most frequent tell: wrong count, impossible joints. Then text inside the image (letters that do not form words), inconsistent reflections, shadows falling in different directions, and backgrounds dissolving into repetitive patterns. No single sign is proof — the combination is.
EXIF metadata can show the camera, the date and the editing software, but it is stripped by almost every social network on upload. Its absence does not mean manipulation; the presence of an editor does not mean forgery. It is a clue, not a verdict.
You upload the image, and the platform analyses two questions separately: whether the image shows signs of manipulation or AI generation, and whether the claim it supports is true. The authenticity verdict is distinct from the factual one — an authentic image can support a false claim, and vice versa.
To check whether a photo is AI-generated, look for inconsistencies in hands, in text inside the image, in reflections and shadows, then run a reverse search to see whether the image appeared before. Justificat.ro analyses uploaded images and reports authenticity separately from the factual verdict.
EXIF metadata can show the camera, the date and the editing software, but it is stripped by almost every social network on upload. Its absence does not mean manipulation, and the presence of an editor does not mean forgery — it is a clue, not a verdict.
Yes, and this is the most common case. A real, unedited photograph attributed to a different event or date misleads just as effectively as a forged one. That is why reverse search, which establishes context, is more useful than pixel analysis.