False claims against a student leader circulated through altered video report of BBC
A video report attributed to BBC News has recently gone viral on social media, in which Hasnat Abdullah, the convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, is identified as the leader of a terrorist organization. The report claims that Hasnat ordered the killing of Awami League leaders. However, verification reveals that the video was created by editing an old BBC news report.
The video, bearing the BBC logo, has been widely shared on Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4) and Twitter (1, 2). In the footage, a news presenter refers to Hasnat Abdullah as the “terrorist leader of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Chhatra Shibir and Dhaka University.” He is also labeled as a militant of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The presenter is heard stating that Hasnat Abdullah has publicly ordered the killing of Awami League leaders Jahangir Alam and Mozammel Haque, as well as supporters of Chhatra League and Jubo League at University of Dhaka.
Verification reveals that the news report used in the video is from 2022. The original report covered the release of British-Iranian nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. During the broadcast, presenter Joanna Gosling became visibly emotional. The Guardian also published a report on her reaction.
The original video was edited to remove the presenter’s voice and replace it with a different audio voiceover. Additionally, the video was manipulated to include three deepfake images of Hasnat Abdullah, along with clips falsely attributed to him.
In the edited video, Hasnat Abdullah is depicted holding weapons. However, verification confirms that these images were created using deepfake technology.
The first image is originally a photograph of an Islamic fighter in Mogadishu, taken by photographer Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. The image is at least 15 years old.
The second image is originally of Adnan Rasheed, a commander of the Pakistani Taliban.
The third image is of Mohammad Saeed Kodaimati from San Diego, a returnee from Syria who was arrested for providing false information regarding ISIS.
However, the video also contains a clip of Hasnat Abdullah’s speech, in which he is heard saying, “Awami League, Jubo League, Chhatra League, Jahangir, and who else… Mozammel… Whoever talks about mob morality here… mob justice… they will…” Verification confirms that this clip is recent and shows no signs of being edited.
In summary, the video falsely presented as a BBC report was created using fake audio and deepfake technology. While Hasnat Abdullah’s speech clip is authentic, the claims labeling him as a terrorist and the images used in the video are false and misleading.
