Claim: A video shows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif abruptly being escorted out of a meeting by a law enforcement official.
Fact: The video was likely created using a still image and is not an authentic video of the prime minister being escorted out.
A video shared online shows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif being escorted out of a meeting abruptly by a law enforcement official as he is in the midst of signing a document.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video and found that the first frame matches an image shared on 9 June 2023 by the Government of Pakistan’s official X account. The image was captioned: “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Budget 2023-24 documents after its approval by the Cabinet to be laid before the National Assembly.”
The same image was also published by the Associated Press of Pakistan and Express News Urdu in the context of the 2023-24 budget. However, we were unable to find an authentic video matching the viral clip.
Notably, the viral video contains several markers typical of AI, such as the pen held distorted hands and unnatural facial movements. As the prime minister stands up to leave, his face distorts. Importantly, he would be expected to show some expression or reaction as he is being escorted out, but his facial expressions remain strangely blank, which is common in AI as it struggles to replicate human expressions. Moreover, once he is out of the frame, the face of the person standing behind Ishaq Dar distorts and blurs completely.
Crucially, the video’s quality is poor and the colours are overly saturated, which suggests post-processing or rendering.
Additionally, we did not find any news reports indicating that the prime minister was recently escorted out of a meeting abruptly by a law enforcement official. Seeing that the moment was photographed by the media, such an incident would’ve been mentioned by at least a few news outlets.
Based on the absence of authentic footage and any news reports of such an incident, Soch Fact Check concludes the viral clip was likely created using AI tools.
Virality
The video was shared here (archive) and here (archive) on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral video is not a genuine recording of the prime minister being escorted out by a law enforcement official. It appears to be created out of an existing image, using AI.
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Background image in cover photo: Associated Press of Pakistan
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