Video of French police using pigs to suppress protests was created using AI
A video has recently circulated on Facebook about an ongoing movement in France. It is claimed that French police are using pigs to suppress the protests. However, Dismislab’s fact-check has found that the video was created using artificial intelligence (AI).
A video was posted on October 24 from a Facebook profile named Manas Sarkar, who identifies himself as a West Bengal BJP leader. The post read, “French police have put pigs to work to resist the nuisance of jihadi pigs….”. In this 10-second video, some people dressed in riot police uniforms are standing with several pigs. Behind them, on the other side of a barricade, protesters holding Palestinian flags can be seen.
As of the publication of this report, the video had been viewed more than 60,000 times, and the post had been shared more than 100 times. In the comments, one person wrote in Hindi, “When will this happen in India, brother?” Another said in English, “French police good idea should follow other Europe countries,” (verbatim).
Multiple clips taken from the same video were shared from another Facebook profile named Ahmed Hasan. The post read, “Beware! Beware! All thieves and scoundrels of France, beware! There is no use dreaming today of fire, vandalism and looting of shopping malls as before! The police have come up with a new tactic — police in front, a pig brigade beside them! No tricks will work today! Ya Jibbi! Ya Jibbi! The French police have finally come to their senses!” verbatim).
In a key-frame search, the same video was found published on October 22 from an Instagram account named Jaranor Films. The account had added an “AI content” label to this video. This page has previously circulated similar videos made using AI.
Upon observation, Dismislab noticed several inconsistencies in the video. Several pieces of text in the video are distorted and unclear. Furthermore, verification using the AI content detection tool Sightengine found a 97 percent probability that the video was created using AI. In addition, the use of pigs by French police could not be found in any reliable news media source.
In other words, the video circulated with the claim that French police used pigs to suppress protests was made using AI.
In France, what started as a student protest over school conditions expanded into broad public unrest over economic hardships and service failures. The widespread discontent eventually escalated into severe violence during a demonstration on October 17.
All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.
