Barishal University Chhatra Dal weapon recovery video is AI-generated
A video has recently circulated on the social media platform Facebook claiming that a massive quantity of weapons was recovered from the room of the secretary of Chhatra Dal (student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party) at Barishal University. However, a fact-check by Dismislab reveals that the video was created using artificial intelligence (AI).
On August 10, a video was posted from a Facebook profile with text reading, “Massive quantity of weapons recovered from the room of the Chhatra Dal secretary at Barishal University.” In the 29-second video, a voice is heard saying, “Massive quantity of weapons recovered from the room of the Chhatra Dal secretary at Barishal University. Based on intelligence information, police conducted a drive at Barishal University. In the drive, police recovered a massive quantity of police weapons looted on August 5 from the Chhatra Dal secretary’s room. Police stated that these weapons are those looted from Jatrabari Police Station on August 5. Through a proper investigation, those involved with this will be brought under the law along with harsh punishment.”
As of the writing of this report, the video has been viewed more than 14,000 times, and the post has been shared more than 700 times. The same video or photos taken from the video have also spread from multiple other Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) profiles and pages.
Upon reviewing the video more closely, various inconsistencies were brought to Dismislab’s attention. At 6 seconds into the video, a person’s shirt sleeve changes from short-sleeved to long-sleeved. The color and pattern of the clothing also changed. The shape and structure of the bed present in the video keep changing. The poster on the wall also changed. When the police officer picks up or touches the weapons on the floor, its shape changes and distorts inconsistently. Changes also occur in the number and type of weapons on the floor.
Verification using the AI content detection tool Hive Moderation also showed that the probability of its video being created with AI is 99.9 percent and the probability of the audio being created with AI is 99.1 percent. For further verification, Dismislab tested it using Google’s AI detection tool SynthID. Google SynthID stated in its results, “Tools have detected that both the visuals and audio contain digital watermarks indicating that they were created or edited with Google AI technologies.”
Furthermore, news of a massive quantity of weapons being recovered from the room of a Chhatra Dal leader at Barishal University was not found in any reliable news outlet.
That is to say, the video circulated with the claim of weapon recovery from Barishal University is not real; it was created using AI.
