The image is AI-generated.
An image circulating widely on Facebook claiming to show Ethiopian forces surrounding and intimidating citizens, asking them why they do not vote for Abiy Ahmed on 1 June 2026, is FAKE.
The post accompanying the image, uploaded by a Facebook page named Ame Mo, claims, “They surrounded us, saying, ‘Why don’t you vote for Abiy Ahmed?’ Guide us Lord”. It generated hundreds of reactions and comments within hours of its publication.
Ethiopia held its 7th General Election on 1 June 2026, where millions of citizens cast their ballots for representatives in the federal parliament and regional state councils.
Our investigation confirms that the viral image is entirely fabricated. While it looks convincing at first glance, a closer analysis reveals it is an AI-generated image filled with clear digital anomalies.
For instance, the military uniforms vary noticeably in design and do not match, and the official patches on the clothing are completely different from one another. Furthermore, the star on the Ethiopian flag visible on their sleeves is flawed, failing to touch all three colour bands of green, yellow, and red evenly as it should. The eye contact of the young citizens is highly unnatural; instead of interacting with or looking at the soldiers who are supposedly confronting them, they are looking upward and directly at the camera, making it seem as though they are staring at an object positioned well above the height of everyone in the scene. Another obvious technical flaw is the weapon mechanics. The carrying straps of the soldiers’ Kalashnikov rifles appear highly distorted and physically impossible, looking as if they are digitally warped and tightly bound directly around their waists, which confirms that the image is entirely computer-generated synthetic content.
Google reverse image search, Yandex, and TinEye confirm that the image was shared only on social media platforms and was not published by any credible media.
Menahria Radio 99.1 ran an analysis of the image, which was processed through Hive Moderation. The analysis found that the image is 99.9 per cent likely to be an AI-generated image, showing high-confidence indicators of synthetic content creation.
Menahria Radio 99.1 examined a Facebook image allegedly showing Ethiopian security forces confronting citizens over their voting choices and found it to be FAKE.
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This fact-check was produced by Getahun Asnake a Journalist at Menahria Radio 99.1 as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with Addis Powerhouse . Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
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