Accounts and pages on social media circulated an image of a banknote bearing the name “Zero Lira,” claiming the Central Bank of Syria had issued it as a commemorative note dedicated to tourists and not meant for circulation, carrying symbols that reflect Syrian identity and civilization.
The Kashaf team examined the circulating image visually and technically to verify its authenticity, and found that it was built on the official design of Syria’s new 100-lira banknote, with clear digital edits to some of its elements — most notably the addition of the word “Zero” in a font and styling that do not match the rest of the design. Linguistic and visual errors were also detected in the added text, including words written in a distorted form that does not match the lettering used on official banknotes, along with additions placed inconsistently with the approved design structure — revealing a clear flaw in the image’s visual composition.
Why is this claim misleading?
An image fabricated with artificial intelligence: A technical check using “Hive Moderation,” a tool designed to detect AI-generated content, found the probability that the image was digitally generated to exceed 99%. Tracing its source showed that it was first published by the page “Dakhlak Bti’raf?”, which is known for posting satirical content and AI-generated images. The image therefore does not represent an official currency, and the Central Bank of Syria has issued no note bearing this name.
