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Tag: manipulated image

  • Photo of Indian opposition leader with controversial Indian preacher is manipulated

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    A manipulated image appearing to show India’s opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sitting with controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik — a wanted man in India — has surfaced in social media posts alleging the pair met during Gandhi’s September vacation in Malaysia. The original photo shows Naik meeting religious officials in Oman in 2023.

    The image of Gandhi sitting next to Naik and another man was shared on Facebook on September 12, 2025.

    “Rahul Gandhi met anti-India terrorist Zakir Naik in Malaysia,” reads part of its Hindi-language caption.

    The post surfaced after Gandhi was targeted by members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for taking a holiday in Malaysia’s Langkawi in the middle of campaigning for local elections in Bihar in early September (archived link).

    Screenshot of the false post captured September 20, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

    The purported image of Gandhi and Naik in Malaysia also surfaced elsewhere on Facebook and X.

    Naik, a radical television preacher who has called the 9/11 attacks an “inside job”, left India in 2016 and moved to largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency (archived link).

    He is wanted in India for money laundering and terror-related activities, while his Islamic Research Foundation was declared “unlawful” and banned in the country (archived link).

    However, the circulating image has been digitally manipulated — it also bears a watermark reading “ChatGPT” in the bottom-right corner, suggesting it was edited using the AI tool.

    A Google reverse image search found the unaltered photo in a post on a Facebook page called Arabian Daily on March 23, 2023 (archived link).

    The post is captioned, “In pictures: Dr Zakir Naik Interactions with His Eminence Sheikh Ahmad Al Khalili, Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, Dr Mohammed Al Maamari Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, and Assistant Mufti Sheikh Kahlan Al Kharousi.”

    <span>Screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the photo of Naik with Omani religious officials (right)</span>

    Screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the photo of Naik with Omani religious officials (right)

    Arabic-language media outlet Watan also published the photo of Naik with the religious officials in March 23 in a report about the preacher arriving in Oman to deliver a series of lectures (archived link).

    Subsequent keyword searches found the image of Gandhi was likely cropped and mirrored from a video uploaded to the Congress politician’s YouTube channel on March 5, 2023 (archived link).

    <span>Screenshot of the image in the false post (left) and the YouTube video of Rahul Gandhi (right)</span>

    Screenshot of the image in the false post (left) and the YouTube video of Rahul Gandhi (right)

    The Congress leader was interacting with journalists during an event in London in March 2023.

    As of September 30, 2025, there have been no official reports Gandhi and Naik met in Malaysia.

    AFP has previously debunked misinformation around Rahul Gandhi here.

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  • Indiana Democrat target of ‘sextortion attempt’ after digitally altered image surfaces

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    A digitally manipulated image of State Rep. Maureen Bauer has recently surfaced online in what is being called “a sextortion attempt,” a news release from the Indiana House of Representatives says.

    Bauer, D-South Bend, has filed reports with the Indiana State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the image. Her team is also working with “appropriate platforms and legal channels” to have the image removed and those responsible for its creation held accountable.

    State Rep. Maureen Bauer and fellow lawmakers gather in the Indiana Statehouse on Org Day, or organization day on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Indianapolis.

    “No one should ever be subjected to this kind of violation,” reads the statement from Anna Groover, communications director for the Indiana House of Representatives. “Deepfake exploitation and the creation of altered sexual images are a form of abuse and will not be tolerated.”

    She urged the public “not to view, share, or circulate this harmful content,” and to report it immediately to law enforcement and website or app administrators.

    It’s the second time an Indiana politician has been faced with the issue of deepfakes.

    Mooresville Republican Rep. Craig Haggard learned in August that a deepfake video portraying his wife topless was possibly circulating online. He had not seen the video himself and Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith told IndyStar his office “has found no evidence that a video was ever produced or viewed by anyone internally.”

    As of state legislation passed in 2024, creating or distributing non-consensual pornographic deepfakes is a misdemeanor offense in Indiana. President Donald Trump signed a federal law in May making the publication of so-called “revenge porn” online or on social media punishable by prison time.

    More: Indiana lawmaker says prosecutor is investigating alleged topless deepfake of his wife

    IndyStar reporters Kayla Dwyer and Brittany Carloni contributed to this report.

    This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fake image of Indiana Rep. Maureen Bauer part of ‘sextortion attempt’

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