An image showing Australia's Bondi Beach attacker, Naved Akram with the defence attaché of India to the Philippines, Captain Chandra Kant Kothari, sitting in a cafe-like setting, is being shared on social media.
Those sharing wrote, "Philippine OSINT community releases exclusive images of Bondi Beach shooter Naveed Akram with The Defense Attaché of India to the Philippines, Captain Kant Kothari in Manila." (sic.)
What we found: At first, we ran a Google reverse image search on the image to check if there had been any reporting on it. However, we did not find any credible sources to prove the claim.
Team WebQoof, then, spotted certain anomalies that are often present in images created using AI.
The cluttered background, text on the food box, and the bystander’s blurry hand were signs suggesting that the image might not be real.
We then ran the image on the AI-detection tool Hive Moderation, which revealed that the image was 99 per cent 'likely' to be AI-generated content.
India's Ministry of External Affairs' (MeA) fact-check unit also debunked this viral image and termed it "fake."
They wrote, "Always stay alert against disinformation and fake posts on social media." (sic.)
We found no credible reports or links to prove a connection between Kothari and Akram.
Conclusion: An AI-generated image is being shared to falsely claim that Captain Kothari met the Bondi beach shooter in the Philippines.
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