AI-generated video falsely depicts protest march over ‘Turag killings’
A video showing what appears to be an Awami League procession was circulated on Facebook. The video claims to show a massive public demonstration protesting the alleged “killings” at the Turag River. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found that the video was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
At 10:08pm on June 29, a Facebook profile named “Vua July” (Fake July) posted the video. The caption read, “Turag gutya kando” (original spelling preserved). In the nine-second video, a large crowd is seen marching while carrying long sticks. White flags bearing the Kalima (Islamic declaration of faith) as well as the flag of Saudi Arabia are visible in the procession.
Chants heard in the march include: “Joy Bangla! Joy Bangabandhu!” and “Sheikh Hasina will return, Bangladesh will smile.” Text overlaid on the video reads, “General public gathering to protest the Turag killing on June 29. Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu.”
In the comments, one user wrote, “People across the country are all saying the same thing.” As of the time this report was written, the video had been viewed more than 13,000 times, and the post had been shared around 150 times.
Dismislab identified several inconsistencies while examining the video. Vehicles traveling on the road to the left suddenly flip upside down and then disappear in a distorted manner. The movement of traffic is unnatural. A closer look at the faces and hands of people in the procession shows that they are blurred, indistinct, and distorted. These are common characteristics of current AI generative models.
A watermark reading “Meta AI” is visible at both the top and bottom of the video, indicating that it was likely created using one of Meta’s AI tools. In addition, verification using the AI content detection tool Hive Moderation found that there is an almost certain probability (99.9%) that the video was generated using AI.
In other words, the video circulating with the claim that it shows a mass public protest over the alleged “killings” at the Turag River was generated using AI.
It is worth noting that, on June 22—the day before the anniversary of the founding of the banned political party Awami League—leaders and activists of the Awami League and Student League organized a boat procession at the Turag River trawler ghat in Ashulia, Dhaka. When police and local BNP activists pursued them after receiving information about the procession, the participants jumped into the river. Following the incident, various misleading claims and rumors about bodies being recovered from the river spread across social media.
