A video allegedly showing US President Donald Trump warning Pakistan against attacking India has gone viral online amid the plummeting ties between the two countries following the recent terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
In the 9-second-long-video, Trump is purportedly heard saying, “If Pakistan attacks India, I will not sit back. I will destroy Pakistan. Modi is my friend and I love the people of India.” Newschecker, however, found that the video was manipulated using AI.
Such posts can be seen here and here.
A similar video of Trump, showing him in the same attire and identical background, threatening to “erase Pakistan” and “warn China” over any attack on India has also surfaced on social media.
Also Read: 2 Indian Soldiers Killed After Terrorists Attack Army Vehicle? Here’s The Truth Behind Viral Post
Fact Check/Verification
A keyword search for “Donald Trump”, “warning” and “Pakistan” on Google did not yield any credible reports stating that the POTUS has threatened to “destroy Pakistan” if it attacks India.
On carefully analysing the video, we noticed that the text on the backdrop read, “The Economic Club New York.”
Taking a clue, we looked up “Economic Club of New York” and “Donald Trump” on C-SPAN website which led us to a video, dated September 15, 2016, showing the POTUS in the same attire and backdrop as seen in the viral clip. “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered remarks at the Economic Club of New York. He outlined his economic plan and was introduced by his running mate, Governor Mike Pence,” it stated.
A comparison between the keyframes of the viral clip and C-SPAN video of Trump can be seen below.
The video was also shared on the official website of the Economic Club of New York, along with the transcript of his address. We skimmed through the same but did not find Trump issuing any such warning against Pakistan, confirming that the viral video is manipulated.
Further, we noticed that the area around Trump’s lips appeared to be blurred in the viral video, indicating that the media may have been altered using AI.
Also Read: Pakistan Air Force Shoots Down Passenger Plane? No, Viral Video Shows 2020 Crash Of PIA Flight
We then checked the video on AI detection platform Hive Moderation which found an overall 99.9% likelihood of media containing AI generated or deepfake content.
Another AI detection tool, Resemble.ai found the audio heard in the viral clip as “fake”.
We also checked the audio on Deepfake-O-Meter of the UB Media Forensics Lab. It checked the audio on multiple detection models, most of which concluded a high probability of the audio being AI generated.
The other video allegedly showing Donald Trump saying he “will erase Pakistan, warn China” was also found to be from the same event and manipulated using AI, as confirmed by the results by AI detecting tool Hive Moderation (71.8%).
The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), of which Newschecker is a part, also analysed this clip on Deepfake-O-Meter, whose classifiers concluded a high probability of the media being AI generated.
Commenting on the Pahalgam terror attack, Trump recently said, “I am very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan, and they’ve had that fight for a thousand years in Kashmir. Kashmir has been going on for a thousand years, probably longer than that. That was a bad one (terrorist attack)…I am sure they’ll figure it out one way or the other. I know both leaders. There’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.”
Also Read: Old Video Of Chinese Military Drill Falsely Shared As Post-Pahalgam Attack Exercise Near Himalayas
Conclusion
Hence, the viral video showing Donald Trump warning Pakistan against attacking India was found to be manipulated using AI.
Sources
Video By C-SPAN, Dated September 15, 2016
DAU Analysis
Resemble.ai Website
Hive Moderation Website
Deepfake-O-Meter Tool
