Claim: Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir got up from his seat to touch the knees of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman out of respect, according to a viral video
Fact: The video is AI-generated and a real picture was likely animated to create the clip. AI and manipulation detection tools also indicated the same.
On 7 November 2024, TikTok user @mpervez2924 posted (archive) a video showing Pakistan Army Chief Gen Syed Asim Munir getting up from his seat to touch the knees of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, apparently in reverence.
The word “BACHALO! [Save us!]” appears on the top-left portion of the clip, indicating that the head of the military was pleading with the Kingdom’s de facto ruler to save Pakistan.
Pakistan Army chief visits Saudi Arabia
Earlier in November 2024, Gen Munir made a trip to Saudi Arabia where he met MBS, according to several Pakistani and Arab media outlets.
According to a 6 November press release by the Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “The two dignitaries engaged in a comprehensive discussion on a range of issues of mutual interest, including regional peace, defence and security cooperation, and strategies for enhancing bilateral relations.”
It added, “COAS [Gen Munir] expressed his gratitude to His Royal Highness [MBS] for his steadfast support for Pakistan and acknowledged his significant role in fostering peace and stability across the region.”
Arab news outlet Ajel reported that the Saudi Crown Prince received the Pakistan Army chief on 9 November and the two “explored means of developing bilateral relations, especially in the military field”, and “discussed several issues of mutual concern”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first observed tell-tale signs of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) such as unnatural movement, as well as the strange manner in which the camera zooms in and then loops.
Additionally, at the two-second mark, Gen Munir’s hands blend into each other before they touch MBS’ knee.
We also noticed that keyframes from the start of the viral video match the image of the two individuals available in the ISPR’s press release and posted on X by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry.
Soch Fact Check decided to run the video through two AI and manipulation detection tools.
The first is TrueMedia.org, a free product “to quickly and effectively detect deepfakes” and that “detects if there are traces that audio has been manipulated or cloned”, according to its website. The nonprofit that created the tool was founded by Dr Oren Etzioni, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington and the founding CEO at the Allen Institute for AI (AI2).
In the first tool, we attempted analyses using the link to the TikTok post, the downloaded file, and a cropped version of the same wherein we removed the animated emoji and focused only on the two subjects. The results are publicly available and can be viewed here, here, and here, respectively. All three revealed “substantial evidence” of manipulation.
The second tool we employed is DeepFake-O-Meter, developed by the University at Buffalo’s Media Forensics Lab (UB MDFL), and we only used the cropped version for this. Of the available detectors, we used four, namely SBI, DSP-FWA, AltFreezing, and LSDA.
The detectors revealed that the probability of the video in question being fake was 56.1%, 100%, 85.1%, and 43.0%, respectively. The results are available here, here, here, and here; however, only those who have signed up can view them. The arithmetic mean of the four probabilities is 71.05%, indicating that the clip is most likely AI-generated.
Moreover, the words “Bilal AI” appear in the clip’s top-right corner of the video; when we searched for the same, we came across the profile of X (formerly Twitter) user @thebilal_a, whose bio states that they create “SW AI based content” and post “Satire/Memes”.
We found the clip posted (archive) on @thebilal_a’s profile on 7 November, with the following caption:
“With a Begging and Seeking Forgiveness Attitude وہ روعانیت کدھر چلی جاتی جو اپنے ملک میں ہر قدم پرہوتی ان میں Why do these Generals Runs towards Kings? For What Purpose? In What Capacity? پھر کہتے ہم نیوٹرل ہیں ہمارا سیاست سے کوئی تعلق نہیں Available on TikTok As well (وقت آگیا کے بچے بچے تک انکی اصل قرتوت پہنچایے جائے )
[With a Begging and Seeking Forgiveness Attitude. Where does their pride, which is present at every step when they’re in their country, go? Why do these Generals Runs towards Kings? For What Purpose? In What Capacity? Then they say they’re neutral, that they have nothing to do with politics. Available on TikTok As well (The time has come to teach children their true colours)]”
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video is AI-generated and the actions depicted in it did not actually take place.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the video posted here and here on TikTok.
The clip was published here, here, and here on Facebook. Some users posted only screenshots from the video here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video appears to have been created using a picture as a source in AI tools to animate it. Analysis using AI and manipulation detection tools confirmed the same. We also found that the user who originally posted the clip creates fictitious content using AI.
Background image in cover photo: Hamid Roshaan
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com