Shahidul Alam’s photo made with AI, says Rumour Scanner

According to the Hive Moderation analysis, the photo is 97 percent likely to be made with AI

A picture allegedly showing a man who looks like Shahidul Alam standing on a beach surrounded by soldiers. Art of Abu Sayed can be seen on his black shirt. Rumor Scanner says the image is likely AI generated.

A photo circulating on social media of Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam being detained from the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla was likely created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, according to fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner.

Shahidul’s organisation Drik said that Israel “violently occupied” eight ships, including “Conscience”, from the Freedom Flotilla fleet at 6am on Wednesday Palestine time (8am Bangladesh time) about 120 nautical miles away from Gaza at the international maritime border.

Before that, more than 40 ships carrying aid from the Global Sumud Flotilla had attempted to break the Israeli blockade and enter Gaza. Israeli forces seized them and detained more than 400 human rights activists on the ships.

Another flotilla of 11 ships then sailed for Gaza on Oct 1, organised by the international organisations Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and Thousand Madleens to Gaza (TMTG).

Rumor Scanner says that the photo circulating on social media showing Shahidul being detained is not authentic to any reliable source. The image shows a man who looks like Alam surrounded by four armed men in military uniforms. The image was not found on the X and Instagram accounts, or the YouTube channel of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

Israeli media outlet The Times of Israel reported that a new flotilla attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza had been blocked, the ships and passengers detained, and taken to the port of Ashdod.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry says that all on board are safe and in good physical condition, and that they will be repatriated as soon as possible.

Rumor Scanner wrote that neither the Times of Israel nor the country's Foreign Ministry published the photo.

It claims to have detected multiple AI-induced inconsistencies after analysing the image in question.

The organisation said that the photo shows a "significant similarity" in the appearances, physical builds, and heights of the armed men, who are dressed in military uniforms. Their posture is also similar.

On Oct 4, Shahidul posted a photo on his Facebook account with the passengers of the “Conscience” fleet. In the photo, he is seen wearing a black Punjabi that bears the image of Abu Sayed, who was killed in the quota reform movement.

However, Rumor Scanner said that the attire worn by Shahidul in the photo in question is not a Punjabi. Usually, this type of change in attire is noted in AI generated photos. In addition, the position of Abu Sayed's photo on Shahidul’s Punjabi in the picture circulating on social media is a mirror image of the one posted by Shahidul on Oct 4.

Rumor Scanner also used AI content detection tool Hive Moderation and found that the photo is 97 percent likely to be made with AI.