Photo of the crowd who visited the Anti-Corruption Commission on behalf of former President Mahinda?

Subscribe to our WhatsApp channel

The ongoing investigation into the controversial Airbus deal has gained lot of attention recently. As part of the investigation, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was called upon to visit the Anti-Corruption Commission, which became a main talking point on social media circles as well. This fact-check examines a misleading photo regarding the former President’s visit.

Social Media Posts:

A photo circulating on social media purportedly shows a massive crowd gathered at the Anti-Corruption Commission, on the day of former president’s visit to the commission.

Facebook | Archived Link

While there were reports of considerable crowd in front of the commission in support of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, are these images really depicting a real scene? Let’s find out.

Fact-Check:

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was summoned before the Anti-Corruption Commission to on May 12. His media spokesman, Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage, stated the visit was to receive a statement from Mahinda Rajapaksa, in connection with a statement previously given by former SriLankan Airlines CEO, late Kapila Chandrasena.

Major media reports also show that a significant crowd had gathered around the premises of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption for this occasion.

This is also evident in the photographs taken at that time.

Facebook

However, even among the photos and footage from media outlets showing crowds at the scene, none show a gathering of this size on the road to the right of the Anti-Corruption Commission premises. Furthermore, the location and appearance of the road in the social media post differ from the Anti-Corruption Commission’s actual location and Malalasekara Mawatha to the right.

Google map Based on these discrepancies and the unnatural positioning of the crowd in the photo, we tested it with an AI photo generation tool, which confirmed that the image was created by artificial intelligence.

Accordingly, it is confirmed that this photo is not a real photo.

Join us to learn more about our fact-checks

Conclusion:

Our investigation confirmed that the social media photo showing a crowd gathered in front of the Anti-Corruption Commission when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the premises was generated using artificial intelligence. However, a significant crowd did gather in front of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Colombo on that day, in support of former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.