New Delhi:
A recording of a purported phone conversation between AAP MP Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathi was shared on social media, claiming that both were discussing the assault case she has filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Vibhav Kumar.An investigation by the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the audio clip in question was an AI-generated voice clone of Atishi and Rathi, which was shared on social media along with false claims.
On May 13, Swati Maliwal alleged that she was assaulted by Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Vibhav Kumar at the Chief Minister's residence in Delhi.
Claim
A Facebook user shared a video that appeared to be a recording of a call between AAP leader Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathi on May 25. In the video, Maliwal can be heard saying that she was assaulted on the orders of Delhi Chief Minister's wife Sunita Kejriwal.
The English translation of the caption reads, “A video of Swati Maliwal and Dhruv Rathi from Delhi has gone viral. Swati Maliwal has asked Dhruv Rathi not to make the video as per your request. The assault was carried out on the orders of Kejriwal and Sunita Gurve has made a video on the opposition's agenda.”
Here is the link and archive link and below are screenshots of the same.
investigation
The desk listened to the audio and noticed some inconsistencies and some words were being repeated.
Starting their investigation, Desk searched for the video in InVid Tool Search and found several keyframes. After searching one of the keyframes in Google Lens, Desk found several posts featuring the same video and making similar claims.
Two such posts can be found here and here, and archived versions of the same posts can be found here and here, respectively.
The video has also been widely shared on YouTube, and the three posts can be found here, here and here, with archived versions available here, here and here.
The desk noticed one of the comments on the post and claimed that the post was fake and action needed to be taken.
Below is a screenshot of the same:
The desk listened carefully to the audio again and found inconsistencies that suggested it may have been faked or digitally created.
At 00:07 seconds and 00:09 seconds, the jump cuts and audio overlays of Rathee and Maliwal are clearly visible.
The Desk then ran the viral video through Itisaar, an AI detection tool developed in collaboration with IIT Jodhpur, which confirmed that the audio was AI-generated and positively fake with a high degree of confidence.
The desk subsequently concluded that fake AI-generated audio clips were shared claiming to be recordings of phone conversations between Swati Maliwal and Dhruv Rathi.
Claim
A recording of a purported call between AAP MP Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathi, in which both were discussing the alleged physical assault against the former.
fact
The audio clips are fake and generated using AI.
Conclusion
Several social media users shared a video that appeared to be a recording of a call between AAP MP Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathi. Investigations revealed that the AI-generated audio clip was being shared on social media with false claims.
(This article was originally published by PTI and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)
