Claim: A video shows PTI activist Sanam Javaid Khan with an unidentified man in what appears to be an intimate setting in Peshawar.
Fact: The video is AI-manipulated, according to Soch Fact Check’s assessment and different deepfake detectors.
On 7 April 2026, Facebook user ‘Babag Hazro’ posted a video allegedly showing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker and activist Sanam Javaid Khan filming herself in a private setting with a man — whose face is blurred out — towards her right.
As the video, which is 11 seconds long, comes to an end, the man gets up and moves his face very close to hers. The clip is accompanied by the following caption:
“ویڈیو پشاور حیات آباد میں اس وقت بنائی گئی جب صنم جاوید پشاور میں مفرور تھی۔ اسی عرصہ میں صنم جاوید کے والد کے اکاؤنٹ میں 73 لاکھ ٹرانسفر ہوئے۔ یہ سب رقم اسی طرح کے دھندے سے کمائے گئے ۔ پٹواریو کہاں کہاں سے ڈھونڈ لیتے ہو ویڈیو ڈھونڈاناں اور لگانا میرا کام . اور ایک سچا پاکستانی ہونے کے نا طے مشہور کرنا آپ کا کام جو امرن ڈو لنگڑا کا یار ہے وہ غدار ہے امرن ڈو کی من جی ٹھوک کے رکھو امرن ڈو پاکستان کا غدار ہے
[The video was made in Hayatabad, Peshawar, when Sanam Javaid was absconding in Peshawar. During this period, 73 lacs [PKR 7.3 million] were transferred to the account of Sanam Javaid’s father. All this money was earned from such kinds of businesses. Patwariyon, where do you find these videos? It is my job to find and post it. And, as a true Pakistani, it is your job to make it viral. Whoever is the friend of Imrandu Langra is a traitor. Keep Imrandu defeated and subdued. Imrandu is a traitor to Pakistan.]”
Screenshot of the viral Facebook reel
“Patwariyon” is the plural of “Patwari,” a term often used in a derogatory manner for supporters of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the political party currently in power. It is commonly employed by supporters of Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister and the PTI’s founder who is currently in jail. However, in this case, it seems the term is used ironically.
The word “Imrandu” used in the hashtag is a portmanteau combining an Urdu slur and Khan’s first name. The term “Langra” here means crippled and refers to the former PM who sustained bullet wounds in his leg when his convoy came under attack in Wazirabad in November 2022.
Sanam Javaid Khan jailed, hospitalised
On 11 August 2025, the PTI activist was sentenced to five years in jail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in cases pertaining to the 9 May 2023 unrest, which was sparked by the first time the party’s founder was arrested.
Read more: Image of Sanam Javaid hospitalised is likely AI-generated
She was earlier released from Kot Lakhpat Jail — officially called the Central Jail Lahore — in July 2025 after being arrested along with her husband, Professor Atiq, on 27 April, according to The Express Tribune.
However, in October 2025, she was allegedly “abducted” by unidentified individuals from near the Civil Officers’ Mess in Peshawar after her vehicle was reportedly intercepted, according to her friend, Advocate Hira Babar, the BBC reported.
Also read: Deepfake of PTI activist Sanam Javaid Khan debunked
On 11 May 2026, The Express Tribune reported that Javaid was shifted from the jail to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital after her health deteriorated, with her husband saying she was brought in for eye and stomach problems.
Manipulated videos of prominent women
This is not the first time women public figures have been targeted with doctored images and videos, which are designed to cast them in a negative light. Disinformation of this nature can result in harmful consequences for their career and reputation and even endanger their safety in some cases.
In the past, Soch Fact Check has debunked a doctored video of Azma Bokhari that went viral, prompting her to approach the Lahore High Court. Additionally, Javaid herself was targeted back in July 2024 and September 2025 with fake clips that we fact-checked.
We have also debunked fake or doctored videos and images of lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari, former PM Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, PTI leader Zartaj Gul Wazir, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Meena Majeed, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hina Parvez Butt.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search using keyframes from the viral video but only found it being rehashed on social media platforms.
We noticed several tell-tale signs of content generated or modified using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as an unnatural smudged outline of her hair and face, a bright spot towards the right side of her mouth, mismatched eyes at different intervals, and a sudden change in features at the 0:09 mark.
Tell-tale signs of AI-generated content
Therefore, we decided to run the video through different deepfake detectors.
According to Hive Moderation, the video is “not likely” to contain AI-generated or deepfake content, with a score of 26.9%.
On the other hand, DeepFake-O-Meter — a tool developed by the University at Buffalo’s Media Forensics Lab (UB MDFL) — said that according to six of the detectors we used, the likelihood of the video being AI-generated was 100%, 96.1%, 89.3%, 88.5%, 67.7%, and 53.1%, respectively.
Related: Video shows Sanam Javaid embraced by her father, not lawyer
Soch Fact Check also tested the viral clip in Global Online Deepfake Detection System (GODDS), a tool developed by Northwestern University’s Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) that uses a combination of various models along with human analysis to provide a holistic summary of the results.
GODDS employed 22 deepfake detection algorithms for the visual content and 70 for the audio component, while two trained analysts also examined the clip.
All predictive models for the visual and audio content said the video “is likely to be fake”:
- The video is likely to be fake with a probability above 0.5, according to 11 of the 22 predictive models; it is likely to be fake with a probability below 0.5, according to the 11 other predictive models.
- The audio is likely to be fake with a probability above 0.5, according to 41 of the 70 predictive models; it is likely to be fake with a probability below 0.5, according to the 29 remaining predictive models.
According to GODDS’ human analysts, the video contains “several indicators” that show it may be artificially manipulated. For example:
- At the 0:03 and the 0:06 marks, the left eye distorts and changes size in an abnormal way
- From the 0:03 to the 0:07 marks, there is an abnormal specular highlight on right cheek
- Between the 0:06 and the 0:07, the blinking appears irregular
- Between the 0:09 and the 0:10, a filter appears on the face and the face briefly shifts
Markers of AI manipulation in the content at different timestamps highlighted by GODDS
“Given the subject’s political status, it is likely that there would be greater news coverage were this media authentic,” the analysts wrote. They noted that since Javaid has previously been targeted by manipulated media, “this video could be part of a larger pattern of misinformation”.
“We believe this media is likely manipulated via artificial intelligence,” they concluded.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video is manipulated using AI tools.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the clip gained over 2.5 million views on Facebook, more than 15,000 likes on Instagram, and over 100 reactions on Threads.
On X (formerly Twitter), the video has been viewed over 773,000 times so far.
Conclusion: The video is AI-manipulated, according to Soch Fact Check’s assessment and different deepfake detectors.
Background image in cover photo: sanamjavaidkhan
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