Viral image claiming five countries’ flags displayed at DUCSU entrance is AI-edited

Recently, an image has been circulated on the internet claiming that the flags of five countries—Pakistan, England, the United States, Israel, and India—were displayed on the floor of the entrance of the DUCSU (Dhaka University Central Students’ Union) building.

See the report published on the online media outlet Rising BD featuring the discussed image here.

Also, see posts circulated on Facebook here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive).

See the post on X (formerly Twitter) here (Archive).

Fact-check

The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the flags of five countries were not displayed on the floor of the DUCSU entrance. In fact, only the flag of Pakistan was displayed there. The viral image showing the flags of five countries was edited using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Rumor Scanner Team initially observed the circulated image. It was noticed that the discussed image contains the logo of Google’s AI, ‘Gemini‘.

Subsequently, analysis on the AI verification tool ‘Image Whisperer’ showed that the discussed image was edited using AI. According to the tool’s analysis, although the original photo is real, the flags displayed in the middle section were edited using AI.

Following this lead, a relevant keyword search found a report published on the Prothom Alo website on December 8, with the headline ‘A group of students trampled the Pakistani flag at the entrance of three halls of Dhaka University‘. The report states that on the afternoon of December 8, a group of students protested by walking over a symbolic Pakistani flag at the entrances of Ziaur Rahman Hall and Bijoy Ekattor Hall, and on the night of December 7, at the entrance of Sergeant Zahurul Haq Hall. Earlier, scenes of students walking over the Pakistani flag displayed on the ground in front of the DUCSU building were also seen.

The Business Standard also published a report with the same information.

Further investigation on this matter found a video report published on the same date on the Channel One News YouTube channel, which confirmed that only the Pakistani flag was displayed on the floor of the DUCSU building.

This indicates that the image showing the flags of Pakistan, England, the United States, Israel, and India is not real.

Therefore, the image circulated claiming that the flags of five countries were displayed at the DUCSU entrance is edited.

Sources

• Gemini – Logo
• Image Whispere Analysis
• Prothom Alo – ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের তিন হলের প্রবেশপথে পাকিস্তানের পতাকা পদদলিত করলেন একদল শিক্ষার্থী
• TBS – ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের তিন হলসহ ডাকসু ভবনের প্রবেশপথে পাকিস্তানের পতাকা পদদলিত
• One News – ডাকসুতে ভারত, ইসরায়েল ও পাকিস্তানের পতাকা লাগিয়েছে কারা?
• Kaler Kantha – Facebook Video
• Jugantor – ঢাবিতে পাকিস্তানের পতাকা পদদলন
• Daily Campus – এবার কার্জন হল ও ফজলুল হক হলে পাকিস্তানের পতাকা পদদলিত করল ঢাবি শিক্ষার্থীরা