Online users in Pakistan are sharing two sets of video clips that purportedly show Pakistani actors kissing in episodes of two separate television series.
The footage has sparked anger and outrage, with social media users demanding that the media regulator take action against the actors and ban the shows from being aired.
However, the claim is false. The videos have been created using publicly available artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Claim
On December 19, an account on X (formerly Twitter) shared a 15-second clip that splices together scenes from two drama series.
One allegedly shows Pakistani actors Bilal Abbas Khan and Durefishan Saleem kissing in a scene from the series Ishq Murshid. While the second video supposedly shows actors Danish Taimoor and Hiba Qadir also in an intimate scene from an episode of Jaan Nisar.
“What has happened to Pakistan’s drama industry?” the user asked. “It is breaking new records of nudity and obscenity. Where is PEMRA? Where is the law?” The video footage has been viewed over 250,000 times and liked over 1,300 times to date.
The claim also took off on Facebook.
Fact
Both videos are fabricated and have been created using publicly available artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Through a reverse image search, Geo Fact Check found that the first video showing actors Bilal Abbas Khan and Durefishan Saleem was manipulated to make it appear as though the actors are kissing. In fact, the original scene from the television series was posted by Hum Television, which created the series, on its official Instagram account on May 4.
The original video can be viewed on Instagram, where the actors can be seen posing for the camera but not kissing.
The same is true for the second video, which features actors Danish Taimoor and Hiba Qadir. The scene shown was taken from Episode 28 of the series Jaan Nisar. Geo Fact Check reviewed the entire episode but did not find any scene where the actors kiss.
The original video can be viewed here.
Verdict: Online users have taken actual footage from drama series and manipulated it using AI tools to make it seem like the actors are kissing in the shows when they are not.
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