Claim: A video shows Meena Majeed and Sarfraz Bugti embracing each other.
Fact: The claim is false as the artificial intelligence software, Vidu, was used to generate this video.
On 29 September, X user @WowBaloch posted a video (archive) apparently showing Meena Majeed, a Provincial Assembly of Balochistan member, reaching out and embracing Sarfraz Bugti, the Chief Minister of Balochistan. The user wrote:
بے شرمی کی انتهاء”
“بلوچیت کی توعین هے.
Translated from Urdu, it states: “Shamelessness has no limits. This is an insult to Baloch culture.”
The caption criticises the display of intimacy in the video as an act of indecency that does not align with the cultural norms in Balochistan. Disinformation of this nature, particularly about women, can result in harmful consequences for their career and reputation and even endanger their safety.
Majeed is an Advisor to the Chief Minister of Balochistan for Sports and Youth Affairs, and a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. She has been affiliated with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) since December 2023.
Previously, Majeed was a member of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), a political party formed in 2018, infamous for its “disparate politicians belonging to various tribes of Balochistan, towing the line of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment.”
Sarfraz Bugti was also a member of BAP before joining PPP in December 2023, two months before the General Election of 2024.
Before he was elected as the Chief Minister of Balochistan in March 2024, Bugti served as Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister from August 2023 to December 2023.
He served as the member of Senate from 2018 to 2023 and was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan from 2013 to 2018.
Bugti is the son of Mir Ghulam Qadir Bugti, a tribal elder of a sub-clan of the Bugti tribe of Balochistan.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed the video and found that it is AI-generated.
A TikTok username “@gulzadibaloch1212” appears over the clip in the claim, which shows this user is the creator of the footage. We also noted that text saying “Vidu” appears temporarily on the top right corner till timestamp 0:03.
Through a keyword search, we found that “Vidu” is an artificial intelligence software that can be used to generate videos, similar to the one in the claim, by uploading a photo and giving a word prompt.
Soch Fact Check tested this software by uploading a dolphin’s photo and giving a text prompt as follows: “A dolphin swimming in the blue sea.”
Soch Fact Check used a dolphin’s photo to test Vidu
Vidu converted the image into a video, according to the text prompt. Its graphics were similar to the video in the claim: the slow-motion movement of the characters is unusual, unlike real-life footage where the movement appears natural and fluid. Most importantly, our test-footage included the “Vidu” logo in the top-right corner, identical to the one in the video of Majeed and Bugti.
Below is the test-footage generated using Vidu:
Moreover, it appears that the TikTok user used Majeed’s photo from December 2023 to generate the fake video. In the original photo, she is standing beside Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan and co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party. The image is an exact match of the moment in the video where we see her standing, right before she reaches out to embrace Bugti. Not only does Majeed herself look identical in both the visuals but the backgrounds are the same as well, which strongly suggests that this image was used as the source to create the AI-generated video in the claim.
Meena Majeed’s photo from December 2023 was likely used to generate the fake video
The original image shows Majeed carrying a PPP flag scarf on her shoulder, a sign of her new membership in the party. It is from when members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) joined the PPP, two months before the Pakistan General Election 2024.
Virality
The X post garnered 62K views.
It appeared on TikTok here and here.
The video was also shared on YouTube here.
Conclusion: The video of Meena Majeed and Sarfraz Bugti is AI-generated.
Background image in cover photo: Meena Majeed’s X (formerly Twitter)
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com