Videos of CM Maryam hugging the UAE president are deepfakes

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the original image and analysed the viral videos.

Posts from multiple users across social media platforms since January 7, 2024, have been sharing various videos of the alleged interaction between Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. However, the videos are fake and doctored through the use of AI technology.

On January 5, the UAE president arrived at Rahim Yar Khan Airport where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed him. CM Maryam was also present and greeted the visiting dignitary with a handshake.

She faced heavy criticism from PTI supporters who labelled her handshake inappropriate and a breach of diplomatic protocol.

HOW IT STARTED

The iVerify Pakistan team was alerted multiple times since Jan 7 about videos on social media platforms, regarding the interaction between the UAE president and CM Maryam, and requested authentication for the content.

On January 6, a user on TikTok, who is a PTI supporter based on their past posts, shared a video of CM Maryam hugging the UAE president, with PM Shehbaz standing in the middle and looking at them.

The video received two million views, 149,700 reactions and was shared 76,100 times. The video was later deleted. However, the same user later uploaded another video with a slightly different interaction between the two.

Similar videos with differences in their interactions were shared on X as well and can be seen here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, to satisfy the public’s request seeking authentication for the claim and because of the nature of the alleged interaction since both individuals are political leaders in countries with conservative social norms where public hugging between unrelated men and women is frowned upon.

Analysing the TikTok video with 2m views, a copy of which can be seen here as the original was deleted, shows several glaring visual inconsistencies.

Firstly, the upper right-hand corner of the video shows a watermark of PixVerse.ai, an AI video creation platform.

Secondly, as CM Maryam and the UAE president come closer for a hug, the former’s face begins getting distorted and blurred.

Thirdly, six fingers can be seen on CM Maryam’s left hand as she wraps her arms around the UAE president.

Fourthly, when the security guard standing behind her walks forward, another guard appears behind him out of nowhere in a split second and splits off from his body.

Furthermore, the various videos observed showed many differences such as the length of the hug or the UAE president seemingly giving CM Maryam a peck on the cheek.

A reverse image search yielded no footage of their interaction shared on the PML-N’s social media profiles or by credible news and media outlets. The only visual of their interaction covered by the mainstream media was the picture of a firm handshake between the two.

The discrepancies and visual distortions in the videos, observed, along with their many differences from each other and lack of any coverage by the mainstream media, showed that they were deepfakes generated through artificial intelligence used to manipulate the image of their handshake.

As covered before, AI technology is widely available that allows users to make clips and short videos from static images.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video, and others like it, shows CM Maryam hugging the UAE president is false.

The many different videos circulating on social media have been doctored and generated through the use of AI deepfake technology which can be seen by the many glaring visual inconsistencies in them as well as their differences with each other. The only interaction that occurred between the two as covered in the mainstream media is their handshake.