“You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you,” said… nobody? AI-generated YouTube videos of Pope Leo XIV have emerged after the Pope’s first weeks in office. The AI-produced video morphed footage from the pope’s May 12 audience with AI-generated words, making it seem as though he was denouncing colonialism and praising Burkina Faso’s military leader, Ibrahim Traore.

How do people get away with these outright lies? Well, the responsible YouTube channel “Pan-African Dreams” included a video disclaimer which explicitly announced the video was “a work of fiction inspired by the life of Ibrahim Traore” and that “while some elements are based on real events, the situations and dialogues described are entirely imaginary and do not reflect any actual events.” But the disclaimer did not stop hundreds of viewers from leaving comments sharing their sentiment about what seemed to be the pope’s real words. Some said the apparent speech gave them “hope for the world” and they had “been waiting for a pope to say this” their whole life.

If the pope isn’t safe from fake news, is there any hope for the rest of us?

Each day, more Americans lose faith in the media’s ability to make accurate and honest reports. Only 31% of Americans in 2024 said they trusted mass media — a record low for the country. How can seemingly black-and-white events be turned into politically motivated reports? According to Casey Harper, the managing editor of Broadcast at Family Research Council, “Most bias comes in what you choose to cover and what you choose not to include.” Though media outlets may not report outright lies, they often fabricate stories that only tell half the tale. “It’s a problem of emphasis, not factual inaccuracies,” said Harper on a recent episode of The Washington Stand’s podcast, “Outstanding.”

Journalists often cite correct information but present it in ways that misrepresent the issue through overemphasis, or the lack thereof. “A good example would be the allegations of President Trump colluding with Russia in the election,” Harper explained. “But during that season of media coverage, it was covered with such a fever pitch that you would have thought that Trump and Putin were texting daily about how to rig this thing.”

This issue of media bias and accuracy does not reside solely with journalists and reports but also the experts on these issues. “It’s not that they don’t distrust the media. They don’t trust the experts anymore, and they’ve been given good reason,” said Harper.

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a notable change from trust to distrust towards the medical community, creating a lack of confidence in experts in any field. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations recently discovered that Biden administration health officials knew within months of the first COVID vaccine release that the shot was correlated with heart issues such as myocarditis and pericarditis. “[Journalists] say, ‘Well, our stories are factually accurate, and we rely on experts,’ but they overemphasize the wrong things,” Harper explained. “So even relying on experts for every issue, there’s an expert who disagrees.”

Mark Tapscott, senior congressional analyst for The Washington Stand, made a similar statement. “You can have a pretty good sense about where a particular expert is coming from, and when you don’t present the broad spectrum of representative experts, then you’re misrepresenting what’s really going on.” There are hundreds of experts within each field, and it’s not hard for the media to find an expert that fits their agenda. “All of the doctors that now are assuming prominent positions in the Trump administration were being censored for four years,” said Tapscott.

These “fake news” biases create widespread confusion, especially about AI. The 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was widely criticized as being staged after unverified information and altered images flooded the media. Internet conspiracy theorists used altered images giving President Trump six fingers as “proof” that the images from the assassination attempt were “AI-generated.”

But what can Christians do to decipher the misleads of mass media and understand what is true and what is not? Recalling the second “greatest command” in Matthew 22:37-39 to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Harper explained the importance of having a Christian perspective as a Christian journalist. “A more personal one that’s been important to me for years is Ephesians 5:11, which says, ‘Have nothing to do with the fruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.’” He explained that we do not always need to have an answer to make an impact, but we are called to expose the darkness and not partake in it.

Harper encouraged journalists and readers alike to use wisdom when looking at media. “But the answer is not to just dive into your partisan bin of media, because it’s another form of deception and wisdom goes out the window. And so somehow you have to learn how to have wisdom as you read these things.” According to Harper, Christians have the foundation of God’s word and truth to guide their thoughts and actions. “But we do believe in the truth, and that it’s kind of amazing that that is so revolutionary,” he stated.

Although Pan-African Dreams’s AI-generated video of the pope was eventually terminated for violating YouTube’s policies on spams and deceptive practices, it still undoubtedly caused a significant amount of people to come to false conclusions through electronic manipulation.

As followers of God, we are called to be mindful of what we consume, and to seek the truth in all things. As Proverbs 14:15 says, “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.” Although the mainstream media will often try to manipulate us, we must first have our attention on God and, as the writer of Proverbs 4 instructs, allow Him to give us counsel through his word, “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words” (Proverbs 4:20).

We must have our ear first to the Lord so we may understand His will. Through this relationship and devotion, may we develop a biblical worldview which will align our priorities, showing us what is true and what is evil by putting all things in the perspective the Lord calls us to maintain.

Caily Shriver serves as an intern at Family Research Council.