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
Photo of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won gold in women’s 66kg boxing at the Paris Olympics, which proves that Khelif is a man.
Fact
Viral image is AI-generated.
A purported image of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won the gold medal in the women’s 66 kg boxing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics amid a huge controversy surrounding her gender, has gone viral, where she appears to be preparing for a men’s boxing bout.
“This is Aligerian Boxer Imane Khelif. Liber@ls want us to believe “HE” is a Woman who won Gold in Paris Olympics who thanked Allah for HIS victory over a Woman. Strange world we are living in (sic),” read one post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The Row Over Khelif’s Participation
Khelif’s participation at the Paris Olympics was subjected to intense scrutiny after she had been disqualified during the 2023 International Boxing Association’s World Boxing Championships for allegedly failing to meet eligibility requirements for the women’s competition. The 25-year-old boxer received backlash from a number of prominent individuals, including former US President Donald Trump, novelist JK Rowling, and tech billionaire Elon Musk, questioning her gender. Khelif has since then filed a criminal complaint over alleged cyberbullying during the Olympics, which reportedly names Rowling and Musk.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed the blurred face of the person seen in the background of the frame, along with the misshapen nail on the hand holding a card next to Khelif, which also has garbled text, all signs pointing towards AI-generated imagery.
We then ran a reverse image search, which led us to the earliest instance of the photo being posted on X on August 24, 2024, with the hashtags #AIart, #AIArtwork, among others.
“All images posted below are created with AI,” read the bio of the X page, Midjourney Prompts. Midjourney is an AI-powered text-to-image generator.
We ran the image past TrueMedia, an AI image-detection tool, which stated there was “substantial evidence of manipulation”, while another tool, Hive Moderation, stated that the image was “96.3% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”
Conclusion
Viral photo of Olympic gold medal-winning woman boxer Imane Khelif looking like a man found to be AI-generated.
Result: Altered Media
Source
X post, Midjourney Prompts, August 24, 2024
TrueMedia tool
HiveModeration 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.
