Visuals of Indian opposition leader 'posing with YouTuber detained for spying' are altered
The Hindi-language Facebook post shared on May 21, 2025 says Indian YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra can be seen with Gandhi in the images (archived link).
"What a strange coincidence that every traitor and anti-national is seen with Rahul Gandhi!" it says. "Is Rahul Gandhi the mastermind behind the turmoil in the country?"
Image
Screenshot of the false post, captured on May 23, 2025
The post surfaced after Indian authorities accused Malhotra and ten other people of leaking military information to Pakistan (archived link).
The nuclear-armed foes agreed to a ceasefire on May 10, ending four days of intense fighting that claimed over 70 lives on both sides (archived link).
Fighting erupted two weeks after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people, which India blamed on Pakistan but denied by Islamabad.
The image was shared with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook, X and Threads, with comments showing some users believed it was genuine.
"I have noticed one thing ... wherever treason is mentioned, Congress is mentioned too," one comment said.
Another wrote, "Congress headquarters is a training centre for traitors."
But a reverse image search on Google revealed the images had been altered.
State lawmaker Aditi Singh shared the first picture on Facebook on December 16, 2017 when she was a member of the Congress party before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2021 (archived link).
The photo's caption reads, "Many congratulations and best wishes to Honourable Rahul Gandhi. Jai Hind!"
Image
Screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (L) and on Singh's Facebook page
Another search reveals Gandhi published the original of the second photo on his Facebook page on September 18, 2022 when he travelled across India as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign (archived here and here).
It shows him posing for a picture with a person different from that seen in the false post.
Image
Screenshot comparison of the image in false post (L) and on Gandhi's Facebook page
AFP has debunked a series of false claims about the India-Pakistan conflict here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Top scientist wants to prevent AI from going rogue
Canadian computer science professor Yoshua Bengio is considered one of the godfathers of the artificial intelligence revolution and on Tuesday announced the launch of LawZero, a non-profit organization intended to mitigate the technology's inherent risks. The winner of the Turing Award, also known as the Nobel Prize for computer science, has been warning for several years of the risks of AI, whether through its malicious use or the software itself going awry. Those risks are increasing with the development of so-called AI agents, a use of the technology that tasks computers with making decisions that were once made by human workers. The goal of these agents is to build virtual employees that can do practically any job a human can, at a fraction of the cost. "Currently, AI is developed to maximize profit," Bengio said, adding it was being deployed even as it persists to show flaws. Moreover, for Bengio, giving AI human-like agency will easily be used for malicious purposes such as disinformation, bioweapons, and cyberattacks. "If we lose control of rogue super-intelligent AIs, they could greatly harm humanity," he said. One of the first objectives at LawZero will be to develop Scientist AI, a form of specially trained AI that can be used as a guardrail to ensure other AIs are behaving properly, the company said. The organization already has over 15 researchers and has received funding from Schmidt Sciences, a charity set up by former Google boss Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy. The project comes as powerful large language models (or LLMs) from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic are deployed across all sectors of the digital economy, while still showing significant problems. These include AI models that show a capability to deceive and fabricate false information even as they increase productivity. In a recent example, AI company Anthropic said that during safety testing, its latest AI model tried to blackmail an engineer to avoid being replaced by another system.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Musk blasts Trump mega-bill, days after farewell
Musk left his role as an official government employee last week, lauded by Trump for spearheading a federal spending cuts program, but disagreements between the duo have been building. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination," Musk posted on X, in by far his most caustic remarks on Trump's spending plans. "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong." It was not Musk's first comments on Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" which is set to add $3 million to US deficits over a 10-year horizon, despite deep cuts to health and food aid programs. But Musk's previous criticism was restrained, with the ex-head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force offering only that it undermined his cost-cutting efforts. On Tuesday he said that the bill -- being considered by Congress -- would burden "citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt." The escalation in rhetoric indicated bitter hostilities between the White House and Musk, who donated almost $300 million to Trump's election campaign but has recently voiced frustrations. "The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill, it doesn't change his opinion," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a rapid response to Musk's tweet. "This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it." As the world's richest person bowed out of his role as Trump's cost-cutter-in-chief, their relationship appeared on an even keel as the Republican hailed his fellow billionaire's "incredible service." Once inseparable Trump even insisted that Musk was "really not leaving" after a turbulent four months in which the South African born tycoon cut tens of thousands of jobs, shuttered whole agencies and slashed foreign aid. Musk was once almost inseparable from Trump, glued to his side on Air Force One, Marine One, in the White House and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The right-wing magnate's DOGE led an ideologically-driven rampage through the federal government, with its young "tech bros" slashing tens of thousands of jobs. But DOGE's achievements fell far short of Musk's original goal of saving $2 trillion dollars. The DOGE website claims to have saved taxpayers about eight percent of the $2 trillion figure so far -- $175 billion -- and fact checkers even see that claim as dubious, given previous serious inaccuracies in its accounting. But the non-governmental "Musk Watch DOGE Tracker" puts the verifiable figure at $16 billion -- less than one percent of the goal. Tesla shareholders called for Musk to return to work as sales slumped and protests targeted the electric vehicle maker, while SpaceX had a series of fiery rocket failures. © 2025 AFP
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Austrian daily under fire after Clint Eastwood slams 'phony' interview
The row was sparked by a purported interview with the Oscar-winning actor and director carried by the German-language Kurier newspaper Friday. In the interview, which was picked up widely by American media over the weekend, Eastwood criticises a lack of fresh ideas in the current film industry as "we live in an era of remakes and franchises". "I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote films like 'Casablanca' in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea," he was quoted as saying. "My philosophy is, do something new or stay at home," it adds. In a statement to Deadline magazine published Monday, Eastwood said "I thought I would set the record straight". "I can confirm I've turned 95. I can also confirm that I never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony," he added. Contacted by AFP, the editorial team of Vienna-based Kurier, which has a circulation of around 100,000, said it had "only heard about the accusation this morning". It has since added a note to the interview published online, saying it is "currently investigating the matter, which will take some time due to the time difference with the United States".
