A digitally altered image purportedly showing Tamil News outlet Sun News' coverage of actor Rajinikanth's appointment as the Governor of Kerala is viral on social media as an authentic news report.
BOOM found that the image was generated using OpenAI's tools and is unrelated to any recent coverage by Sun News.
The Claim:
The image, which features the Sun News logo, is being shared on social media with congratulatory captions for Rajinikanth on his purported appointment as Governor of Kerala.
Archive available here.
What We Found:
1) Image generated using OpenAI tool
BOOM ran the image through OpenAI's Verify tool, which detected a SynthID watermark, indicating the image was generated using OpenAI's tools.
2) No news reports of Rajinikanth's appointment as governor of Kerala
BOOM did not find any credible news reports about Rajinikanth's appointment as a governor. We also looked at Sun News' coverage of Rajinikanth and Kerala and could not find any such report.
The photo used in the viral graphic is from a press conference on March 12, 2020, where the actor expressed his disinterest in becoming the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.