Fact-check: Viral video of CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif supporting Rajab Butt is AI-generated

Following YouTuber Rajab Butt being physically assaulted at a sessions court in Karachi on December 29, a video began circulating online that allegedly shows Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif announcing her support for Butt and promising action against the lawyers involved in the attack.

The video is not authentic. It was created using publicly available artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Claim

On December 30, an Instagram user posted a short video clip with the Urdu-language caption: “Justice for Rajab Butt.”

In the video, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is allegedly heard saying: “Today, when some despicable lawyers attacked Rajab Butt outside the court, it caused him serious harm and he was injured.”

She then says that they will have to account for the injustice committed against Rajab Butt outside the Karachi court.

At the time of writing, the post had been viewed over three million times, received more than 581,000 views, and was liked over 68,000 times.

Fact

Multiple AI detection tools, as well as Punjab’s minister for information, have confirmed that the circulating video was generated using AI and was not recorded by the Punjab chief minister following the attack on the YouTuber.

Geo Fact Check analysed the clip using the University at Buffalo’s DeepFake-o-Meter, which determined that the video was likely AI-generated, returning a fake probability score of 84.44%.

Additionally, Hiya, a deepfake voice detection tool, gave the audio a low authenticity score of 24 out of 100, indicating a high likelihood of synthetic audio.

Further analysis using Google’s SynthID, a detection tool developed by Google DeepMind to identify AI-generated content, also indicated that the video was created using a generative AI model.

While Punjab’s Minister for Information Azma Zahid Bokhari confirmed to Geo Fact Check that the circulating video is “fake”.

Moreover, a comparison with Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s verified public speeches reveals noticeable inconsistencies in voice modulation, tone, and accent in the viral clip.

Verdict: The viral video purportedly showing Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif condemning the alleged attack on YouTuber Rajab Butt is AI-generated and not real. Multiple AI detection tools flagged both the video and audio as synthetic.

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