Wrestlers detained in Delhi: AI picture of ‘smiling’ Vinesh & Sangeeta Phogat viral
A few of India’s prime wrestlers, led by Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik, had been detained by Delhi Police on Sunday, Could 28, after they’d been stopped from marching in the direction of the brand new Parliament constructing from their web site of protest at Jantar Mantar. The Wrestlers, who’ve been demanding the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment by at the least seven ladies wrestlers (together with a minor), wished to carry a ladies’s Maha Panchayat in entrance of the brand new Parliament constructing.
The next is a picture of Delhi Police detaining wrestler Sakshi Malik close to Jantar Mantar throughout their protest march (utilized in a Hindustan Times report).
In keeping with ThePrint, eight to 9 buses stuffed with protesters had been taken to completely different police stations. The police then eliminated all of the tents, hoardings, and the Tricolour that the wrestlers had put up. The protest web site at Jantar Mantar was emptied by the police who additionally took down all of the preparations the wrestlers had made for themselves.
After the wrestlers had been taken into custody, a selfie of Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat and others apparently clicked in a police automobile began circulating on social media, with the declare that the wrestlers had been seen smiling even after being detained by the police.
Abhijit Majumder, who describes himself as a journalist in his Twitter bio, shared the viral picture and wrote, “Mission Toolkit achieved. #WrestlersProtest”. (Archive)
Mission Toolkit achieved. #WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/Nw7P2olHeT
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) May 28, 2023
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit additionally tweeted the viral picture of the smiling wrestlers and stated that after the drama on the streets, this was their actual face. He later deleted the tweet.
Professional-BJP propaganda web site Kreately Media additionally tweeted the viral picture alongside a picture of the wrestlers pinned to the bottom by police. They later deleted the tweet.
State common secretary for Bengal BJP Amitava Chakravorty shared the picture alongside photos of the protest and wrote ‘Drama is over. Now all going dwelling smiling. They solely got here for the picture to smash immediately’s inaugurations.’ (Archive)
Drama is over. Now all going dwelling smiling. They solely got here for the picture to smash immediately’s inaugarations pic.twitter.com/otBS2PxyTW
— Amitava Chakravorty (@Amitava_BJP) May 29, 2023
Verified account @wokeflix_ tweeted the identical picture in a meme and wrote ‘Toolkit Activated. Mission Achieved’. (Archive)
Toolkit Activated.
Mission Achieved. #Wokeflix https://t.co/Jmx2mRda03 pic.twitter.com/WC9W3LyU3E— Wokeflix (@wokeflix_) May 28, 2023
Verified account @randomsena tweeted the identical picture alongside a picture of Sangeeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat pinned to the ground throughout the protest, and wrote “Propaganda Vs Actuality” (Archive). One other verified account, @RealAtulsay, tweeted the identical picture and wrote “Selfie???? of the day. Faux #WrestlerProtest”. (Archive)
Reality Verify
We discovered that journalist Mandeep Punia had tweeted the picture at 12:28 pm on Sunday with the data that Vinesh Phogat had been detained by Delhi Police. In that picture, Vinesh, Sangeeta and others aren’t seen smiling, opposite to the viral picture. (Archive)
विनेश फोगाट को भी दिल्ली पुलिस ने हिरासत में ले लिया है pic.twitter.com/LzsC9vdxhZ
— Mandeep Punia (@mandeeppunia1) May 28, 2023
Wrestler Bajrang Punia tweeted a collage of the 2 photographs (in a single, the wrestlers are smiling; within the different, they aren’t) marking the viral picture as ‘pretend’. He said that complaints can be filed in opposition to whoever circulated the viral picture. This explicit tweet was retweeted the Vinesh Phogat herself.
Sangeeta Phogat additionally retweeted a tweet by consumer Rahul Tahiliani which carried the identical collage the place the ‘smiling’ picture was marked ‘pretend’. (Archive)
Coming to the main points of the viral picture itself, we discovered that the picture had been morphed utilizing Synthetic Intelligence app referred to as FaceApp. We carried out the identical train on the unique picture tweeted by Mandeep Punia and located the precise viral picture. This train was additionally carried out by journalist Uzair Rizvi in a tweet.
Furthermore, Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat have dimples within the viral picture. By evaluating Vinesh and Sangeeta’s faces within the viral picture with photos from their Instagram accounts, we discovered that neither of the sisters has a dimple. (Sangeeta’s Instagram picture and Vinesh’s Instagram picture)
Some customers additionally shared a video of Vinesh Phogat smiling and waving from the police automobile, whereas she was being taken away. Customers sarcastically requested if the video of her smiling was additionally edited. (Archive)
Is that this video additionally edited? https://t.co/eR7ocqhwlk pic.twitter.com/KilrZdVYR2
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) May 28, 2023
In actuality, Vinesh was sarcastically saying “Naya Desh Mubarak Ho” (Translation: Congratulations on a brand new India) whereas being taken away by the police. The video was taken out of context by the above consumer. On this video too, one can clearly see that Vinesh Phogat doesn’t have a dimple.
Therefore, a selfie taken by wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat and others in a police van whereas being taken away for detention has been edited utilizing an Synthetic Intelligence app to point out that the wrestlers had been smiling. The narrative was grossly manipulated to point out that the protest was only a propaganda tactic.
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