Two visuals claiming to show a huge turnout of people at Delhi's Jantar Mantar for the Cockroach Janta Party protest on June 6, have been doctored using AI.
One video shows an aerial view of a large crowd, while a photograph depicts a packed gathering at the protest venue.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke led the protest on June 6 demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged irregularities in CBSE and NEET examinations.
The Claim:
The viral video purporting to show a drone footage of crowded Jantar Mantar was posted by Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar on X with the caption claiming it is from the CJP Protest. The outlet later deleted the post.
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A viral photo in which several AI-related discrepancies are pointed out is being posted by X handles to claim that the photo was shared by CJP supporters.
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What We Found:
1) AI-related dispensaries and AI label
BOOM found several visual inconsistencies in the viral video and photo that indicate the crowd was enhanced and doctored using AI. Several faces in the crowd appear twice or are blurred.
Taking a clue from the X replies to the now deleted post, we found that the original video was posted by the Instagram handle (@mohsin_sultan_official) with AI label on Instagram.
We found the original architecture of Jantar Mantar was distorted in the viral video and none of the text on the signboards or posters were readable.
2) Original photo
We also found the original version of the viral photo posted by The Hindu. The original image shows a significantly lesser number of people than the one seen in the viral version, indicating that the crowd size had been artificially inflated.
A comparison between the viral image and The Hindu’s original photo reveals clear signs of AI manipulation. For instance, one seated individual appears to have been duplicated and placed in at least three different locations within the crowd. Similar repeated figures and altered crowd patterns can be seen throughout the image, indicating that it has been digitally manipulated.