Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
A set of three images, claiming to be from the devastating Bangladesh floods.
Fact
Images were found to be AI-generated.
A set of three images have gone viral, claiming to be from the recent floods reportedly caused by relentless monsoon rains and overflowing rivers in Bangladesh, where at least 20 people have died and more than 5.2 million have been affected. The archived version of the posts can be seen here, here and here.
The disaster and the viral images also revealed growing anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh that saw the Indian government strongly deny claims in Dhaka that the flooding of districts on the eastern borders of Bangladesh had been caused by the opening of Dumbur dam upstream of the Gumti river in Tripura.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed the overly glossy texture and sharpness of the three images, all hallmarks of AI-generated media, raising our doubts.
Image 1
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the photo, which did not throw us any credible media reports using the image.
We then ran the image past Hive Moderation, an AI image detection tool, which stated that the image is “99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.” We also ran the image past “Is It AI?”, another tool, which gave it a 70% probability of being AI-generated. The SightEngine AI image detection gave it a 99% probability of being AI-generated.
Image 2
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the photo, which also did not throw us any credible media reports using the image.
We ran the image past the “Is It AI?” tool, which gave it a 55% probability of being AI-generated, while Hive Moderation, surprisingly, gave it only 13.3%. However, another tool, HuggingFace, stated it was 93% likely to be AI generated. The Illuminarty detection tool gave it 82.3% probability of being AI-generated.
Image 3
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the photo, which did not throw us any credible media reports using the image.
We ran the image past the “Is It AI?” tool, which gave it a 78% probability of being AI-generated, while Hive Moderation stated that the image is “99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content. The SightEngine tool gave it a 77% probability of being AI-generated.
Also Read: Old Video From Visakhapatnam Falsely Linked To Kolkata Rape And Murder Case
Conclusion
Viral images claiming to show the devastation wreaked by the floods in Bangladesh found to be AI-generated.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Hive Moderation tool
IsitAI? Tool
Illuminarty tool
HuggingFace tool
Sightengine tool
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
