PESHAWAR – A viral picture showing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi being escorted into a building by police and Rangers personnel raised frenzy and sparked new debate amid political uncertainty in the terror-hit region.
The picture spread widely across social media after the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP. Shared alongside demands for Afridi’s release, the photograph appeared to show the chief minister entering a building along with Police and Army personnel, leading many users to believe it was a screenshot taken from CCTV footage.
However, a fact check of online image-verification tools clarified that the picture was not authentic and is AI-generated. Google’s Gemini SynthID system and Hive Moderation were unable to authenticate the photograph, while Image Whisperer flagged signs of possible manipulation.
OpenAI’s image-verification tool detected SynthID watermark in the photograph, indicating that it had been generated using AI tool.
SynthID is a digital watermarking technology developed by Google DeepMind to help identify content produced using artificial intelligence. The technology embeds imperceptible digital watermarks into supported AI-generated images, audio, and videos. These watermarks can subsequently be analysed by compatible verification tools to help determine whether content was created using an AI model.
The snap started circulating as questions mounted over the whereabouts of KP chief minister after the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule. Some Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders claimed that Afridi had been taken into custody, but the authorities did not immediately confirm the reports.
Nearly 30 hours after the emergency was imposed, the federal government confirmed that Afridi was in custody over concerns about a potential disturbance of public order.
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However, the confirmation of his detention does not establish the authenticity of the viral photograph or prove that the scene shown in the image reflects the actual circumstances of his arrest.
Parts of KP remained under heightened security after the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule. Peshawar Red Zone and several surrounding areas remained sealed, while mobile phone and internet services were suspended in parts of the provincial capital. Heavy police deployments continued across the city, with containers blocking roads at multiple locations.
