Following the killing of a U.S. citizen and civilian, Renee Nicole Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, the incident has sparked and accelerated online disinformation related to the events and details of the shooting. There have been media reports about AI-generated disinformation that spread on social media in the aftermath of the killing pertaining to the identity of the ICE officer, as well as circulation of AI-generated photos, including an AI-generated photo of the deceased woman in a bikini, drawing from a recent dismaying and worrying trend where Grok, a gen-AI tool created by xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk in 2023, has been used to produce non-consensual images of young women and children wearing a bikini.
However, there has also been disinformation perpetuated and propagated by several top officials in the authoritarian Trump government and by partisan news media organisations about the incident, including about the events that led to the shooting by the ICE officer, and the use of tropes and narratives of victim-blaming and shaming to justify the killing. Blatant and persistent lying, as a form of disinformation, has dangerous consequences, given that it has brought into suspicion the bystander video that captured the conversation that occurred pre-shooting between Good and the officer, and of the shooting itself, and has led to dramatically opposing interpretations of the incident, further fracturing of reality, and diminishing people’s ability to decipher fact from fiction as news consumers, citizens, and stakeholders invested in safeguarding democracy and public good.
At RNW Media, we work towards enabling journalists and media-makers to produce fact-based information, challenge harmful and divisive narratives, and prevent and counter disinformation in order to ensure that audiences can access and engage with information that is accurate, reliable, informative, and supports an open and democratic public discourse. We are equally committed to ensuring that online spaces remain safe and inclusive for all, and through our work on countering tech-facilitated gender-based violence, we aim to ensure equal participation in the digital public square for all, that is free of fear, harassment, and abuse, including and particularly for women and gender diverse voices, people, and communities.
We, therefore, call on the U.S. government, media and Big Tech and online platforms to prioritise and enable a (digital) information ecosystem that prioritises information that is fact-based, accurate, prevents harm, and encourages healthy debate that engenders consensus and common ground. Information is power, and it is a shared responsibility for all actors and stakeholders to co-create and sustain a media and information ecosystem that empowers people, serves public good, and contributes to open societies.
Links:
- Grok Deepfaked Renée Nicole Good’s Body Into a Bikini – Mother Jones
- https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-renee-good.html