Fact-check: AI-generated video of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah goes viral online

A video clip is going viral on social media in Pakistan, purportedly showing Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court announcing that he will not issue verdicts against the military or the state if he is made the chief justice of the country.

The video has been generated using artificial intelligence tools.

Claim

On October 21, a user on X (formerly known as Twitter) shared a 34-second alleged video of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah with the caption: "Mr Mansoor Shah’s address to the nation."

In the video, Shah is supposedly heard saying that the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was running a social media campaign against him to "prove" he was anti-military and anti-state.

"This is not true," the voice in the video added. "Neither have I done anything like this nor will I. I am ready to take an oath that if I am made the chief justice, I will remain loyal to my office and never go against the state or the establishment."

The post has garnered over 31,000 views and nearly 200 reposts.

Similar claims were also shared here and here, where social media users appeared to believe that the judge had issued the video statement.

Fact

The video is fabricated and was likely made using publicly available artificial intelligence tools. The senior judge of the Supreme Court has not recorded or released any such video message.

Asad Baig, founder of the Islamabad-based Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD), analysed the online footage at Geo Fact Check’s request.

"Through a very basic visual analysis, anyone can ascertain that the video in question is concocted and made using a publicly available [picture] of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah," Baig said. 

"As seen in the video, the facial features and distorted speech are recorded over embossed images."

Additionally, Shahid Hussain Kamboyo, the public relations officer at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, confirmed to Geo Fact Check over the phone that the video was "fake."

The picture used for the deepfake was sourced from the official website of the Lahore High Court and can be seen here.

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