False claim of Australian PM in Time's 'most influential' list misleads online

"Albo has just been honoured by TIME magazine, named among the 100 most influential figures in the world -- a recognition celebrating his transformative leadership and global impact as Prime Minister," reads an April 22 Instagram post, accompanied by what appears to be a cover of Time magazine with a picture of Albanese. 

The false claim has also spread on X and Facebook with one user attaching a caption that reads: "Just in case you didn't know Time magazine was a mad left wing publication... they just hung up a giant red flag."

Another fabricated cover purporting to show the magazine announcing Albanese's inclusion in the 2026 list has also circulated online. 

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Screenshots of the false posts taken on May 1, with red Xs and an AI symbol added by AFP

Time magazine released its annual Top 100 Most Influential People list on April 15, announcing in a press release that their choices are "the leaders, innovators, and changemakers who are redefining the future" (archived link).

Some social media users appear to take the magazine covers at face value, with Albanese's supporters praising him as a "leader on the world stage fighting for a better Australia" and his detractors criticising Time magazine for being "out of touch with reality". 

While there is a section of political figures -- which includes Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pope Leo XIV and New York mayor Zohran Mamdani -- Albanese is not on the list (archived link).

He is also not on any of the four covers that Time has for the issue. Instead, the covers are of actress Zoe Saldana, comedian Nikki Glaser, musician Luke Combs and actor Wagner Moura (archived link). 

One of the fabricated covers has a diamond watermark at the bottom right, a sign that the image was made by Google's AI assistant Gemini. 

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Screenshot of the fabricated Time magazine cover, with Google's Gemini watermark highlighted in an orange box by AFP

The last time Albanese was part of Time's 100 list was in 2023 (archived link). The magazine did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

AAP has also debunked these Time covers (archived link). 

AFP has previously tackled similar claims on fabricated Time covers.