WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Climate activists scaled the Sydney Opera House and erected banners opposing coal and gas.
OUR VERDICT
False. There was no such protest and an image supposedly showing the protest is AI-generated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Climate activists did not hang massive protest banners from the sails of the Sydney Opera House, despite claims online.
The image is generated using artificial intelligence (AI) and there are no credible reports of such a protest at the famous landmark.
The claim is in a Facebook post by The Australian Pulse, an account run from Sri Lanka, according to its transparency data, from June 29.
It features an image of the Opera House covered in banners reading "no new coal & gas" and "climate justice now", with people standing across the roof.
"Sydney Opera House occupation: Climate activists scale sails to hang huge banners," the overlay text below the image reads.
The post's caption reads: "BREAKING: Climate activists have scaled the sails of the Sydney Opera House to hang massive protest banners. Total chaos at Sydney Harbour right now. Thoughts on this protest method?"
The post has been viewed tens of thousands of times, but there are no credible news reports of any recent protest matching the description.
The image shows signs of being AI-generated.
Several figures in the foreground have distorted faces and limbs and the building is inaccurately depicted.
Google Street View images from the same vantage point show the building's sails are in slightly different positions.
The page's administrator also admitted, two days after making the post, that the image was fake.
"This is not a real event. It is a fictional image created using AI," they wrote in a comment below the post.
Nonetheless, many users commenting on the post appear to believe it is real.
An analysis using OpenAI's verification tool reveals the image contains an invisible watermark, called Synth ID, that confirms it's AI-generated.
Climate change activists have in the past scaled Sydney's famous landmark and erected banners, including a 2009 protest organised by Greenpeace.
AAP FactCheck has also previously debunked AI-generated images depicting a large fire and a pro-Palestine protest at the Opera House.
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