Fact Check: Viral image of wrestlers Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat manipulated using AI, shared with misleading claim

New Delhi (Vishvas News): As Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament on May 28, wrestlers carried out a massive protest in the national capital to press for their demand to arrest Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Several prominent wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia were detained as they tried to march from Jantar Mantar in Delhi to the new Parliament. Meanwhile, a picture has gone viral on social media where Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat can be seen smiling at the police as they sit inside a bus.

Vishvas News investigated and found that the picture of the detained female wrestler is edited. The viral picture has been created by editing through the Face App.

Claim:

Facebook user ‘Arjun Pandit Sherda’ shared the post (archived link) on May 28 and wrote, “After today’s drama on the roads, this is their real face. They have become a part of the toolkit, which works to break our country.”

Similarly, another user ‘Ganesh Suthar‘ also shared this picture and wrote in the caption, “This is their real face after doing drama on the road! They have become a part of a toolkit that works to break the country! The pride of the country are on their downfall today!

Investigation:

The viral picture was shared by senior journalist Harshvardhan Tripathi on his verified Twitter handle on May 28. However, later admitting his mistake, he also shared the original picture.

In another tweet on May 28, he shared a collage of the original and the viral picture and wrote, “I tweeted the picture of the wrestlers. Then came to know that the images were edited with the help of AI to make them smile. Also, tweeted the original picture immediately. If I had to run away by spreading lies, I would have deleted it and left, but since then the gang has been posting obscene abuses and threats to my family. Will not add to the mess by sharing it.”

To investigate the viral picture, we searched Google with related keywords. During this we found the original picture on the website of ‘Sakshi Post’. The image was used in a news story published on May 28, 2023. According to the information given, “Indian wrestlers – Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat were taken into custody by the Delhi Police from Jantar Mantar here on Sunday. The protesting wrestlers, along with their supporters, tried to break through the police barricades and march towards the newly constructed Parliament House.”

During the search, we also found the viral picture on the Twitter handle of Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia. In a tweet dated May 28, 2023, sharing the original and edited pictures, it is written, “IT cell people are spreading this false picture. We make it clear that a complaint will be filed against whoever posts this fake picture.”

A collage of original and edited images has also been shared by a verified Twitter handle named ‘DU Jat Students Union’. The caption accompanying the picture reads, “BJP IT cell has started using AI software. Look at their dirty tricks to defame the Olympic champion. First photo is real! The other is manipulated.”

On this Twitter handle, we found another post dated May 29, which states that the viral image has been created with the help of AI Apps.

Further, we compared the smiling viral picture of Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat with the pictures available on their social media handles. It was found that both Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat do not have dimples on their face as seen in the viral photo. It is clear that the viral picture is edited.

We contacted Shani Sharma, deputy chief reporter of Delhi Dainik Jagran, who covered the protest, for more details. He told us, “The viral picture is edited and the claim is false.”

This is not the first time that a wrong post has gone viral regarding the ongoing wrestler movement at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Even before this, many videos and pictures have been made viral on social media. Their truth was revealed by us. You can read our investigation here.

At the end of the investigation, we scanned the page sharing the edited picture with the false claim. We found that 114 people follow this page on Facebook. The Facebook page was created on October 20, 2022.