A supposed tale of a regime opponent’s liberation by CNN has gone viral, but fact-checkers have revealed the man is actually Salama Mohammad Salama, an officer of the Assad regime. While CNN reported the encounter with a captured individual named Adel Ghurbal, it was quickly debunked by Verify-Sy, a Syrian fact-checking platform. The incident highlights the risks journalists face in Syria, where supporters of the Assad regime may manipulate the media for their own narratives. The fate of Salama post-release remains unclear.