AI used to replace Kalima-inscribed flags with Pakistani flag in rally photo
Two photos of people holding the Pakistani flag during a rally have recently been circulated on the social media platform Facebook. Sharing these photos, apprehensions were expressed regarding the direction the country is heading. However, a fact-check by Dismislab revealed that the Pakistani flags in the photos were edited with AI.
On June 27, more than 150 musallis (worshipers) gathered with Kalima-inscribed (bearing the Islamic declaration of faith) flags at the Model Mosque intersection in Madaripur city. The two circulated photos were edited from the scene of the motorcycle rally with Kalima-inscribed flags in hand.
On July 5, two photos were posted from a personal Facebook profile named “Sonar Bangladesh” (Golden Bangladesh) with a caption reading, “Can it be imagined which direction the country is heading, what is the situation of the children of Rajakars (collaborators during the 1971 Liberation War) in the country” (spelling unchanged). In the two photos, several individuals are seen rallying on motorcycles with Pakistani flags in their hands. Up until the writing of this report, the post has been shared 365 times, and users have reacted to it more than 1 thousand 2200 times.
The two photos were posted with the same claim from multiple (1, 2, 3, 4) personal Facebook profiles and groups.
To verify the authenticity of the photos, a reverse image search yielded a report published by BBC Bangla on July 3. The title of this report was “Processions with Kalima-inscribed flags in various places of Bangladesh, what is behind it?” One part of the report reads, “Last Saturday, after the Asr (afternoon) prayers, more than a hundred and fifty worshipers gathered at the Model Mosque intersection in Madaripur city. There, many had Kalima-inscribed flags in their hands. Some were black in color, some were white. After a while, a motorcycle rally started in front of the Model Mosque. Each motorcycle had two or three riders. Mics were also seen in the hands of a few.”
One of the circulated photos bears an almost exact resemblance to a photo used in this report. Only here, Kalima-inscribed flags are seen in the hands of the individuals. The caption of this photo was, “Motorcycle rally with Kalima-inscribed flags in Madaripur.”
Upon conducting a reverse image search to verify the other photo, a video report published on the same day on BBC Bangla’s verified Facebook page was found. The circulated photo matches the 11-second mark scene of the video exactly. In this photo, an individual is seen speaking with a mic in one hand. A Kalima-inscribed flag is seen in his other hand.
To verify the authenticity of the circulated photo, Dismislab tested it using Google’s AI detection tool SynthID. The Google SynthID result stated, “Analyzing the image reveals that it has been created or edited using Google AI technology.”
That is to say, the two circulated photos of the Pakistani flag have been edited from scenes of a motorcycle rally with Kalima-inscribed flags in hand.
