Lighthouse Journalism found a few pictures being widely shared on social media platforms of Cricketer Mohammed Shami and tennis player Sania Mirza. It is being claimed along with the pictures that both Shami and Mirza got married. During the investigation we found the images to be AI-generated. The viral claim is false.
Claim:
Facebook user Star Mahal Tv shared the viral images with false claims.
Other users too are sharing pictures with the same claim.
Other similar pictures too were being shared with the same claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by uploading the collage to several AI detection tools.
HIVE Moderation gave the result that the image is likely AI-generated.
We also ran these images through other AI detectors. aiimagedetector.org too gave an 82.04 per cent probability that the pictures are AI-generated.
https://wasitai.com/ too gave the result that the images are AI-generated.
Other pictures too are AI-generated.
We also checked if Mohammad Shami or Sania Mirza gave any statement about the viral pictures.
Back in June and July 2024 Mohammed Shami and Sania Mirza’s father had reacted to these rumours.
The news report stated that Mohammed Shami urged meme creators to recognize their responsibility and refrain from generating fake images and spreading misinformation, especially about personal matters.
In another news report, the father of Sania Mirza too rubbished the rumours: In an interview with NDTV, Imran said that her daughter hasn’t even met the cricketer and that the rumours are “rubbish”. He said, “This is all rubbish. She has not even met him.”
Conclusion: The viral images being widely shared on social media platforms claiming Mohammed Shami and Sania Mirza are officially married are AI-generated. The viral images are fake, claim is false.
