Pahalgam Attack: Nation In Mourning Faces Fresh Wounds From AI-Driven Media

A photograph of a silently grieving Himanshi Narwal, still in her bridal bangles, sitting beside her slain husband, Indian Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, has, over the past two days, become the defining image of the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, where terrorists gunned down 26 tourists at Baisaran meadow, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Another couple of images, purportedly of the same moment and showing a visibly more emotional Himanshi, who is a schoolteacher, has also gone viral on social media, evoking more outrage by users, who called the chilling visuals the most heart-wrenching photos of the massacre as the couple got married six days before the attack on April 22 and were in Baisaran as part of their honeymoon. The posts can be seen here and here.

Fact Check

Newschecker did not find either of the two viral photos in the extensive media coverage of the terror attack as well as of the couple. We learnt that the original viral photo, which was widely shared on social media after the attack, was distributed by the Press Trust of India news agency after it was arranged by a stringer in Srinagar.

Newschecker noticed the overly smooth and painting-like texture of the new photos, as opposed to the grainy quality of the original, raising our doubts on whether they were AI-generated.

Image 1

We ran the image past Hive Moderation, an AI-content detection tool, which found it 99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content. Another tool, SightEngine, said the image was 99% likely to be AI-generated.

Image 2

We ran the image past Hive Moderation, an AI-content detection tool, which found it 99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content. Another tool, SightEngine, said the image was 99% likely to be AI-generated.

Newschecker has previously debunked multiple distressing AI-generated photos, claiming to show the aftermath of the terror attack in Baisaran where bodies of the victims are strewn across the off-road meadow and police personnel attending to them. Earlier, an official BJP handle also sparked massive fury online after it chose to use AI to revamp the tragic photo of Himanshi and Vinay Narwal into the viral Studio Ghibli animation style, which had become a trend over the past month. The “sickening” post reportedly triggered widespread anger on social media, forcing the handle to delete it.

Also Read: Last Video Of Lt. Vinay Narwal With His Wife? No, Couple Seen In Viral Reel Are Not Victims Of Pahalgam Terror Attack

Conclusion

Viral photos claiming to show an emotional Himanshi Narwal near the body of her Navy officer husband, who was killed by terrorists in Pahalgam, found to be AI-generated.

Source
Hive Moderation tool
SightEngine tool