Claim: An image of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has been displayed on the doors of public toilet stalls.
Fact: The image is likely altered. Visual anomalies and forensic tools’ results indicated that Nawaz’s image was likely superimposed onto a stock image of toilet stalls.
A Facebook user shared an image of a public toilet stall that shows Maryam Nawaz’s image displayed on the doors, writing, “واش روم کے دروازے پر بی بی نے اپنی فوٹو ٹھوک دی”
[Translation: Bibi has nailed her photo onto the bathroom door.]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check doubted the authenticity of the image due to several discrepancies. The three doors with Maryam Nawaz’s image appear white, while the door without it is a different colour. The spacing between the doors is also uneven with a wider gap between the first two. This is unusual since stall doors are typically the same colour and aligned evenly.
Zooming into the image, it is noticeable that the door knobs vary in size and alignment. Most importantly, a partition wall between the stalls is only visible above one of the doors, implying the other stalls do not have partitions, which is highly unlikely.
These anomalies suggested that the image was likely edited.
Therefore, we analysed it through FotoForensics, which highlights differences in compression to indicate if an image has been tampered with. According to the Error Level Analysis, Maryam Nawaz’s image appeared brighter and exhibited distinct colour variations, which indicated it’s a different compression level from the rest of the image. This suggested that Nawaz’s image may have been superimposed on another image, as any elements added later tend to compress differently and appear more prominently in an ELA.
Soch Fact Check also analysed the image through DeepFake detect. The tool outlined Nawaz’s image in red, which indicated that the algorithm detected anomalies in that part of the image. These anomalies could be differences in:
- Texture: surfaces did not blend naturally with the rest of the photo.
- Lighting and shadows were inconsistent with the surrounding environment.
- Pixel structure or compression: mismatched artifacts from editing.
This result also suggests that Maryam Nawaz’s image was likely superimposed onto another image, and it did not naturally belong to the original frame.
Soch Fact Check could not trace the original image which we suspect was altered to show Maryam Nawaz’s image on the stall doors. Nonetheless, the visual anomalies and results from online forensic tools indicate that the chief minister’s photo was likely superimposed onto a stock image of toilet stalls.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here (archive) and here (archive).
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: The viral image of toilet stalls featuring Maryam Nawaz’s photo is likely altered. Forensic analysis and unusual features indicated that Nawaz’s image was likely superimposed onto a stock image of the toilet stalls.
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Background image in cover photo: Daily Times
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