Claim: Video shows Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members Zartaj Gul and Ali Muhammad Khan embracing each other at a rally.
Fact: The video is AI-generated.
A Facebook user posted a reel (archive) apparently showing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members Zartaj Gul and Ali Muhammad Khan embracing each other at a rally, with embedded text in the video which translates into English as, “real independence.”
In recent months, a surge of AI-generated videos have surfaced on social media which show politicians, particularly women, in an inappropriate light. Soch Fact Check has consistently debunked such harmful instances of disinformation here, here, and here.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed the video and found it has all the signs of generative AI.
Upon closer inspection, we noted that Zartaj Gul’s eyes move unnaturally just before she embraces Ali Muhammad Khan. She’s holding a water bottle in her left hand, close to her abdomen, that remains suspended in the air even after she lets go of it to embrace Khan. Zooming into the video further, we noticed that Gul’s right hand stretches unnaturally and seems almost elastic when she wraps her arms around him.
Both Khan and Gul’s hair appears airbrushed, another sign of generative AI.
An individual standing behind Gul, on the left, appears in and out of the video and his face gets distorted momentarily. Additionally, other people’s faces behind them are not clearly visible, which is typical of AI’s failure to generate clear human facial features.
A reverse search of the keyframes led us to a TikTok video posted (archive) on 29 May 2022, captioned “Former Federal Minister Zartaj Gul and PTI’s hero Ali Mohammad Khan at the Multan rally.” As the keyframes of both videos are very similar, we suspect the TikTok video was used as the basis for the AI-generated footage. In both videos, Gul makes a victory sign with her right hand while holding a water bottle with her left hand, and Khan stands with his hands folded behind his back.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video in the claim is AI-generated.
Virality
The Facebook post was liked 29,100 times and shared 12,000 times.
It also appeared here.
Conclusion: A video of PTI members Zartaj Gul and Ali Muhammad Khan embracing each other at a rally is AI-generated.
Background image in cover photo: The News International
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