Misleading photos and videos showcasing footage of the disaster. - Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka English

At a time of severe disaster in the country, images and videos depicting the disaster situation are rapidly shared on social media platforms. However, among these, many images and videos created using Artificial Intelligence can also be seen. This is a fact-check we did regarding those.

Social Media Posts :

Claim 1:

The video, titled “The One Wish of a Thousand Men,” shows a row of liquor bottles floating on a flooded street lined with shops, with several men enjoying themselves while holding them in their hands. The video, which appears to be CCTV footage from November 27, was posted to Facebook with a snippet of a song playing in the background.

Facebook

Fact Check:

Although the mainstream media reported many videos of the roads and areas that have been flooded due to the ongoing disaster in the country, we didn’t notice any footage of people behaving like this near a liquor shop on a flooded road. As the area was not mentioned in the social media post, we took steps to monitor the video closely. Accordingly, several unusual problems were observed in the footage. There are electricity poles in the middle of the road. And if the liquor store is a store within the country, its nameplate should generally be in Sinhala, Tamil, or English. However, the nameplate is not in any of these three languages. Furthermore, the behaviour of the people in the footage is unnatural. The left hand of the person in the photo on the left side of the video looks unnatural. Moreover, although the bottle in the hand of the person who is on the right side of the footage appears to be a bottle taken while floating in the water, upon close observation of the footage for 3 to 5 seconds, it is not possible to see such a bottle in his hand.

Due to the unusual features of the video, we took steps to verify the authenticity of the video through several AI (Artificial Intelligence) testing tools. Accordingly, it became clear that this is a video clip that was processed using AI.

Claim 2:

Another social media post was published with the caption, “The crocodile that came to Melsiripura with the flood”, in which a crocodile can be seen roaming in a garden that has been flooded.

Facebook

Meanwhile, several other social media users had posted images taken from the video, stating that a crocodile has come to a home garden in Melsiripura, along with the floods, as follows | Archived Link, follows |Archived Link and as follows| Archived Link

Several other users had posted photos of this crocodile, stating that it was a crocodile that came to “Pitabaddara” and came from “Gampaha”.

Facebook |Archived Link Facebook| Archived Link

Fact Check:

The majority of these groups that shared these images mentioned ‘a crocodile that went to a house in Melsiripura’, while another group had mentioned several other places and locations. However, such footage has not been broadcast by the mainstream media. To further verify this, we contacted the Kurunegala regional reporter by phone, and he stated that no such incident has been reported from the relevant area.

Accordingly, due to the unnatural features of the footage, we examined the photos by referring them to an AI checking tool. Accordingly, it was confirmed that these photos were also processed through artificial intelligence.

Claim 3:

A social media post was published stating that, taking into account the need to provide safe and temporary shelter to the affected people, it was decided to convert the R. Premadasa Stadium (Khettarama Stadium) into an emergency disaster shelter. The post also included some photos showing the current condition of the stadium, depicting people staying in tents set up on the stadium grounds.

Fact Check:

With the prediction of a major flood in the Kelani River Basin, the Colombo Regional Development Committee decided to set up the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo as an emergency disaster centre to shelter those affected by the disaster on the 28th. More information here. Accordingly, although the photo circulating on social media shows people being sheltered in tents outside the stadium, such a scene was not reported through the mainstream media.

Municipal Councillor and Attorney-at-Law Prasanna Liyanarachchi – Coordinator

Accordingly, we inquired from the Municipal Councillor Attorney-at-Law Prasanna Liyanarachchi to check the credibility of this, and he confirmed that the photographs are misleading and not true. He stated that it was decided to utilize the pavilion area in an emergency situation to shelter a large number of people, and that there was no intention to use the stadium for such purposes.

However, it has still not been used as a centre to shelter people.

Accordingly, this photo was checked by submitting it to several AI testing tools, and it was confirmed that the photo was processed using AI.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation reveals that the posts circulating on social media claiming to show a floating stock of liquor bottles on a flooded road with shops, a crocodile entering a house due to the flood situation, and people being sheltered at the R. Premadasa Stadium are not actual photographs or videos. These photographs and videos are created using Artificial Intelligence.