Fact Check: Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s Deepfake Audio Viral
In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral audio message of Imran Khan declaring an election boycott is a deepfake. Imran Khan or his party PTI did not make any such announcement.
- By: Ashish Maharishi
- Published: Feb 9, 2024 at 12:49 PM
- Updated: Feb 13, 2024 at 01:15 PM
New Delhi, Vishvas News – Amidst ongoing elections in Pakistan, a purported audio clip of former Prime Minister Imran Khan is circulating widely on social media. The audio clip hints at Imran Khan boycotting the elections, as he can be heard saying that PTI and its supporters will abstain from February 8 2024 polls.
Vishvas News investigated the matter and found the audio message featuring Imran Khan a deepfake.
What is viral?
On February 7, 2024, ‘X’ handle Shaher Bano posted the viral audio message that later went viral and wrote “Imran Khan released the audio message from jail. PTI announced an election boycott.”
Investigation
To verify the viral claim, Vishvas News conducted an investigation into the ongoing elections in Pakistan. As per the reports from Bhaskar.com dated February 8, 2023, Imran Khan had cast his vote through a postal ballot, and other incarcerated politicians also reportedly exercised their voting rights from Adiala jail, as reported by Dawn News.
During our investigation, we found social media posts by Rauf Hasan, the Central Information Secretary of PTI. In a post dated February 7, Hasan urged people to vote, emphasising the power of the public voting for PTI’s success and Imran Khan’s release.
Additionally, on February 8, 2024, both PTI’s official handle and Imran Khan’s personal handle posted messages and videos urging the citizens to participate in the electoral process.
For confirmation, we reached out to Rauf Hasan, the PTI spokesperson, on this issue. He emphasised that the viral clip is fake, asserting that it has been created by Imran Khan’s political rivals to mislead the voters. He asserted that boycotting elections is not PTI’s policy and cannot be endorsed under any circumstances.
This viral post was shared by Shaher Bano’s X-handle. We scanned this handle and found that the account is operated from Britain, and was created in February 2022, and has over 61000 followers.
Conclusion: In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral audio message of Imran Khan declaring an election boycott is a deepfake. Imran Khan or his party PTI did not make any such announcement.
- Claim Review : Imran Khan released the audio message from jail. PTI announced an election boycott.
- Claimed By : , ‘X’ handle Shaher Bano
- Fact Check : False
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