AI-Manipulated Clip of Afghan FM Talking About Temples in Kabul Viral

AI-detection tools concluded that the video was AI-generated.

Fact-Check: This video has been created using AI and is not real.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video showing Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi speaking to the press is being shared on social media. In the clip, he's heard talking about the construction of temples in his country.

What did he say?: "I have told Modi ji that if we give some dollars to Taliban, then we will also build temples of Bhagwan Shiva and Vishnu Devi in Kabul, Kandahar and Hilman so that devotees from India can travel to Afghanistan. We have raised the slogan of Jai Shri Ram here. We are grateful to Modi ji that he has given us a lot of love. (sic)"

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false. The video is created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

What we found: At first, we divided the clip into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search om some of them.

• It led us to a video uploaded on ANI's official channel showing a press conference by Muttaqi, from 12 October, featuring the same frames.

• During the press meet, Muttaqi discussed Afghanistan’s foreign policy, emphasising a desire for balanced relations with all countries, including India and Pakistan.

• He addressed the recent conflict with Pakistan, asserting that Afghanistan has the right to defend its borders and has retaliated against violations, while ultimately expressing a preference for negotiation and peace.

• Team WebQoof did not find any mention of temple construction or money exchange in any of Muttaqi's pressers.

Anomalies in the video: We noticed that the foreign dignitary's teeth disappeared and then reappeared across frames.

Here is close-up of the frame.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint) 

• We then, reached out to the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) for their inputs to check whether the video had been altered using AI.

Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU): Hive AI audio classifier found the entire audio track to be "AI-generated".

Hiya audio too found the audio to be inauthentic.

Here are the results by Hiya AI.

(Source: DAU/Screenshot) 

The DAU team also noted that the subject's teeth vanished from view in some frames, then reappeared in others. This happens at various timecodes in the video track.

Here is the example of the facial feature which raised a red flag. 

Here is the example of the facial feature which raised a red flag. 

Conclusion: It is clear that the viral video has been created using AI tools and is not real.

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