Should a government’s official account do this? On Thursday, the White House’s social networks shared a photograph of Nekima Levy Armstrong: this lawyer had just been arrested for demonstrating against the immigration agency (ICE) in a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In this version released by the executive, the lawyer appears handcuffed and bursting into tears. The original images show her with a closed face, without signs of emotion. There was no mention that the photo had been modified.
The initial image was posted half an hour earlier by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Shortly after, the edited version relayed by the White House was widely spread on X, accumulating around 2.5 million views in a few hours. It has not been established whether the manipulation was based on artificial intelligence or on more traditional editing tools.
When asked, the White House did not immediately respond. On social networks, Kaelan Dorr, one of those responsible for the executive’s digital strategy, assumed the provocative tone of the publication: “Enforcement of the law will continue. Memes too. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Another spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, scoffed at those who questioned the authenticity of the image.
“Why should we believe you? »
On the side of the lawyer’s family, the reaction was immediate. During a press conference in front of the Saint Paul court, her husband, Marques Armstrong, denounced a false staging. This modification is not just anecdotal. It constitutes a new stage in the creation and modification of the story. The goal: to discredit the person photographed, to “humiliate” them, those close to them accused.
The post made no mention anywhere that it was a meme. Unlike other posts in the past, which were clearly edited and intended to be humorous, this message was posted among the others, in a very serious tone. “A manipulation of reality,” pointed out opponents of Republican power.
This type of publication risks eroding, if it were even possible, the confidence placed in official communications coming from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. The administration has built a large part of its success on mastering the narrative via the power of images. “People will ask: when you publish images of Venezuelan drug traffickers’ boats, why should we believe you? In fact, why should we believe anything you say? », asserted Hany Farid, professor at the University of California at Berkeley and specialist in digital forensics, in the columns of the Washington Post.
