Claim: A viral video shows six young Pakistani men and women warning about the unforeseen consequences of joining protests that may turn violent. Fact: The video is AI-generated. On 25 and 26 September 2026, multiple different social media users shared a video, allegedly of young Pakistani men and women, warning against joining protests that result in “vandalism, arson, and road blockades”, as such acts affect not only the participants and their families but the general public as well. Some of the captions accompanying the videos are as follows:
- “اختلافُ کریں، احتجاج کریں مگر انتشار نہیں [Disagree, protest, but no anarchy]”
- “احتجاج کی آواز ہوں، تشدد کی گونج نہیں۔ جب احتجاج توڑ پھوڑ اور راستے روکنے لگے، نقصان سب کا ہوتا ہے۔ کسی کا رزق رکتا ہے، کسی کی ایمبولینس۔ ہجوم چند لمحوں کا – مقدمہ برسوں آپ کے نام کے ساتھ۔ اور اس کی قیمت صرف آپ نہیں، گھر والے بھی دیتے ہیں۔ اختلاف کریں، احتجاج کریں – مگر انتشار کا حصہ نہ بنیں۔ [I’m the voice of protest, not an echo of violence. When protests end up in vandalism and roadblocks, everyone suffers. Someone’s livelihood is put on hold, another’s ambulance is delayed. Mobs gather for moments, yet your name remains attached to legal cases for years. And it’s not just you who pays the price, your family does too. Disagree, protest, but do not become a part of anarchy.]”
- “احتجاج کی آواز بنیں، تشدد کی گونج نہیں! جب احتجاج توڑ پھوڑ، جلاؤ گھیراؤ اور راستے بند کرنے پر اتر آئے، تو نقصان کسی ایک کا نہیں، ہم سب کا ہوتا ہے! کسی غریب کا رزق رکتا ہے، کسی مریض کی ایمبولینس راستے میں دم توڑتی ہے! ہجوم کے چند لمحوں کے جذباتیت کا فیصلہ… برسوں کے مقدمات بن کر آپ کے نام رہتا ہے۔ اور اس کی بھاری قیمت صرف آپ نہیں، آپ کے بے گناہ گھر والے بھی چکاتے ہیں۔ اختلاف کیجیے، پرامن آواز اٹھائیے— مگر کسی صورت انتشار اور تباہی کا حصہ نہ بنیں! [Be a voice for protest, not an echo of violence! When protest descends into vandalism, arson, and road blockades, the loss is not just one person’s, it affects us all! A poor person’s livelihood is halted; a patient’s ambulance gets stuck, and a life is lost on the way! The decision made in a few moments of mob-driven emotion turns into years of legal battles that remain attached to your name. And it is not just you who pays the heavy price for this—your innocent family members do, too. Disagree, raise your voice peacefully — but under no circumstances become a part of chaos and destruction!]”
In the video, six young people — three men and three women — talk about protests that turn violent and lead to law enforcement authorities (LEAs) making arrests. Their remarks are transcribed as follows: “I’m the voice of protest, not an echo of violence. When protests end up in vandalism and roadblocks, everyone suffers. Someone’s livelihood is put on hold, another’s ambulance is delayed. Mobs gather for moments, yet your name remains attached to legal cases for years. And it’s not just you who pays the price, your family does too. Disagree, protest, but do not become a part of anarchy.”
Screenshot of various frames from the viral video
The video ends with a warning: “PUBLIC SAFETY MESSAGE: Do not take part in violence, vandalism, road blockades, or clashes with law enforcement. Protect your future. Protect those around you.”
Protests in Pakistan
Over the past few months, Pakistan has seen multiple protests and sit-ins over various issues, with some of them being called off later or postponed. In August 2026, the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) launched a sit-in campaign at “510 locations” across the country against inflation, as well as a fuel levy, but ended it in Karachi while announcing a “train march” to Islamabad. That, too, was postponed after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to do so, the latter said. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) deferred its demonstration to demand the release of incarcerated former Prime Minister and party founder, Imran Khan, that was originally scheduled for 27 September. Despite “extreme measures” by the government against the rally, it said it would go ahead with its protest on 4 October. In August 2026, the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) also announced a countrywide protest as the “farming community had been facing severe difficulties” but postponed it after “a request and assurances” given by the government of Balochistan. The group’s demands also included “the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz”. In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the banned Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) protest continues over rising cost of living, rights, and electoral reforms. A sit-in by the families of more than two dozen police officers who were killed by militants in Balochistan was called off on 18 July after the government’s assurance to probe recent attacks, including those by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a terrorist group also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check observed odd and stiff body movements among the six young men and women in the video, indicating that it may have been created or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. When we reverse-searched keyframes from the viral clip, we found social media posts rehashing it with similar captions. We also found that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hina Parvez Butt had shared the video at least five times. Suspecting AI manipulation, we ran the video through multiple deepfake detection tools, such as DetectVideo AI and Hive Detect. According to DetectVideo AI’s results, the clip is “likely manipulated”, with a 69% likelihood at 95% confidence.
Screenshot of DetectVideo AI’s results
Hive Detect’s results found that the sample is “99.9% likely to be AI-generated video”, with a 98.4% chance of AI-generated speech between the 0:11 and 0:20 marks. It also identified the generation source as “seedance2”, a “unified multimodal audio-video joint generation architecture”.
Screenshot of Hive Detect’s results
Soch Fact Check then decided to test the video with Google AI’s SynthID detection tool. According to Google DeepMind, “SynthID embeds digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text or video. The watermarks are embedded across Google’s generative AI consumer products and are imperceptible to humans – but can be detected by SynthID’s technology.” The tool confirmed that parts of the audio and video in the sample were made with Google AI. It specified that the SynthID watermark was detected throughout the visual component, as well as in the first 12 seconds and between the 24- and 30-second marks.
Screenshot of Google’s SynthID watermark identification tool
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video is AI-generated.
Virality
The video was shared multiple times on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Conclusion: The video of six young people issuing a warning about the dangers of participating in protests, which was shared repeatedly in light of multiple demonstrations taking place around Pakistan, is AI-generated.
Background image in cover photo: Soch Videos
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