#FactCheck - Viral Image of AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi Holding Lord Rama Portrait Proven Fake
Executive Summary:
In recent times an image showing the President of AIMIM, Asaduddin Owaisi holding a portrait of Hindu deity Lord Rama, has gone viral on different social media platforms. After conducting a reverse image search, CyberPeace Research Team then found that the picture was fake. The screenshot of the Facebook post made by Asaduddin Owaisi in 2018 reveals him holding Ambedkar’s picture. But the photo which has been morphed shows Asaduddin Owaisi holding a picture of Lord Rama with a distorted message gives totally different connotations in the political realm because in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Asaduddin Owaisi is a candidate from Hyderabad. This means there is a need to ensure that before sharing any information one must check it is original in order to eliminate fake news.
Claims:
AIMIM Party leader Asaduddin Owaisi standing with the painting of Hindu god Rama and the caption that reads his interest towards Hindu religion.
Fact Check:
In order to investigate the posts, we ran a reverse search of the image. We identified a photo that was shared on the official Facebook wall of the AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on 7th April 2018.
Comparing the two photos we found that the painting Asaduddin Owaisi is holding is of B.R Ambedkar whereas the viral image is of Lord Rama, and the original photo was posted in the year 2018.
Hence, it was concluded that the viral image was digitally modified to spread false propaganda.
Conclusion:
The photograph of AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi holding up one painting of Lord Rama is fake as it has been morphed. The photo that Asaduddin Owaisi uploaded on a Facebook page on 7 Apr 2018 depicted him holding a picture of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. This photograph was digitally altered and the false captions were written to give an altogether different message of Asaduddin Owaisi. It has even highlighted the necessity of fighting fake news that has spread widely through social media platforms especially during the political realm.
- Claim: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi was holding a painting of the Hindu god Lord Rama in his hand.
- Claimed on: X (Formerly known as Twitter)
- Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
Related Blogs
Artificial intelligence is growing at a rapid pace, with startups promising breakthroughs in industries and attracting billions in investment. Among these was Builder.ai, a London-based company founded in 2016 by an Indian entrepreneur. Once valued at over $1.5 billion, it was known for its game-changing platform that could let anyone build custom apps quickly and affordably with the help of AI.
Yet in 2025, Builder.ai collapsed dramatically, filing for bankruptcy across multiple countries and laying off nearly 80% of its workforce. What was once a celebrated unicorn has become a cautionary tale, exposing not only the risks of hype-driven growth in AI but also inflicting reputational damage on Indian founders in the global startup ecosystem.
The Rise: Big Promises, Big Investors
Builder.ai branded itself as a no-code/low-code app development platform, where its AI assistant “Natasha” would guide customers in creating apps without technical expertise. The pitch was simple and attractive: app development was made “as easy as ordering pizza.” The story resonated with major investors. Backed by SoftBank, Microsoft, and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Builder.ai raised more than $450 million. It scaled rapidly, positioning itself as one of Europe’s most promising AI startups.
The Cracks Appear
Behind the glamour, the first cracks appeared as early as 2019, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Builder.ai’s platform depended far more on human engineers than on the AI automation it advertised. In reality, the much-hyped AI assistant “Natasha” was often just “a guy instead”, i.e., skilled developers in India manually writing code behind the scenes on whose backs the company expanded aggressively.
The real blow came from Builder.ai’s finances. The company was accused of inflating revenue figures by 300%, with alleged use of round-tripping tactics involving fake invoices that inflated financials. While it publicly projected revenues of $220 million in 2024, its actual figure was closer to $55 million. When this reality surfaced, investor confidence was lost quickly, and the company’s liabilities ballooned to nearly $100 million, with less than $ 10 million in assets remaining.
Collapse and Legal Scrutiny
By 2025, the company’s foundations had crumbled. The founder stepped down as CEO but retained the unusual title of “Chief Wizard.” Massive debts to AWS, Microsoft, and other partners mounted into the hundreds of millions. Assets were seized, and the company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., UK, India, and the UAE.
For clients, the collapse meant abandoned projects. For employees, around 1,000 of them, it meant sudden unemployment. And for investors, it was a devastating loss. The Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York have since launched investigations into potential fraud and investor misrepresentation.
Reputational Damage: Impact on Indian Founders
Perhaps the most enduring consequence of Builder.ai’s downfall is the hit to the credibility of Indian founders on the global stage.
For years, Indian entrepreneurs have earned trust in global tech circles, with leaders heading companies from Google to Microsoft. Indian-led startups abroad were viewed as reliable, innovative, and growth-driven. Builder.ai’s collapse disrupts this narrative.
The allegations of inflated revenue, AI exaggeration, and questionable governance risk reinforcing skepticism among global investors regarding Indian organisational ethics. For other Indian founders seeking international capital, the road has now become tougher: stricter due diligence, harsher scrutiny of claims, and slower trust-building.
This reputational damage arrives at a critical time when India is positioning itself as a global hub for AI and leads the world in AI skill penetration. Rather than highlighting the strength of India’s entrepreneurial and talent ecosystem, the fall of Builder.ai has drawn attention to the risks of overpromising and underdelivering.
Conclusion
The fall of Builder.ai is more than the bankruptcy of one AI unicorn. It is a warning to companies against chasing hyper growth fueled by the riding of the AI wave. While the company’s downfall exposed flaws in governance and accountability, its deeper impact lies in how it dented trust. To drive AI and technology innovation, startups must move beyond flashy valuations and commit to authentic innovation, transparency, and financial integrity.
References
- https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/insights/lending/moodys-early-warning-in-action-builder-ai.html#:~:text=Despite%20marketing%20itself%20as%20an,fake%20invoices%20that%20inflated%20financials.
- https://today-innovation.webflow.io/unveiling-the-power-of-natasha-an-ai-assistant-of-builder-ai-to-revolutionize-app-generation
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/builder-ais-shocking-450m-fall-170009323.html
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2108810
- https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/how-a-london-based-startups-artificial-ai-gambit-backfired-ws-l-19613692.htm#
Introduction
Over the last few years, several public data breaches in Venezuela have revealed a lack of cohesion and progress in its data privacy system and left many people susceptible to fraud, identity theft and long-term harm via the internet. It is clear from these data breaches that when organizations fail to adequately protect their data, both through cybersecurity failures and weak legal protections, they can lead to problems throughout an entire system through which all individuals in the system could potentially suffer.
Among the more notable breaches are the Movistar Venezuela data breach from 2025 and the Cashea App data leak from earlier this year. Each of these examples demonstrates to some extent how the absence of an adequate privacy regulatory scheme can worsen the results of a data breach.
The Movistar Breach: A Regulatory Warning (2025)
Venezuelan digital rights group VE Sin Filtro published a report late in April 2025, which found a database revealed to have been opened onto the internet containing personal information belonging to over 3.2 million Movistar customers. The initial breach contained personal, and confidential, data of Venezuelan citizens such as national identification numbers, full names, city of residence, and phone numbers which could have been exploited to commit identity theft, SIM-swap fraud, and targeted scams.
One significant issue with this situation was that Movistar failed to disclose the breach publicly or contact impacted customers at the time of the disclosure. As a result, there appears to be a significant gap in Sanctions / Other Means of Enforcing Security Countermeasures Laws. Since there are numerous countries that enforce GDPR-style regulations and as such, this matter should lead to a complete investigation and possible fines against those responsible but in Venezuela there is still a lack of accountability.
Cashea App Leak: A 2026 Data Shock
A second alleged data breach came to light in February of 2026. It involved a Venezuelan buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech called Cashea App, which is typically heavily utilized domestically. Reports have circulated that threat actors have been offering a database, believed to hold more than 79 million transaction records. This is more than double the size and sensitivity of the data involved in the Movistar Breach.
According to reports, the leaked data included:
- Bank account details and payment methods
- Merchant profiles and internal business identifiers
- Detailed transaction histories with names, national ID numbers, timestamps, and installment data
This level of exposure goes far beyond basic identifiers. Financial transaction histories combined with personal identifiers enable sophisticated fraud, targeted social engineering, and long-term misuse of financial identities. As with the Movistar breach, no official acknowledgment or notification was issued by Cashea at the time of reporting, again underscoring Venezuela’s weak enforcement environment.
Why These Breaches Matter: The Legal Dimension
The incidents show us that there is a bigger problem with the way Venezuela has set up its framework for protecting data. For instance, the Venezuelan Constitution recognises the principles of data protection and privacy; however, these rights only exist in a theoretical manner; they lack implementing legislation, procedural clarity, and institutional enforcement.
Constitutional Basis of Data Protection
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) stated the core principles for protecting data are found in the Venezuelan Constitution. After the TSJ issued its 2011 ruling, Article 28 of the Venezuelan Constitution gives individuals the right to know what data the state has about them, how the state uses that data, and to correct or delete any harmful data. Article 60 of the Venezuelan Constitution protects individuals' privacy and restricts excessive data collection by the state.
The Constitutional Chamber also put into place additional guiding principles for how to protect personal data, including:
- The data subject must give prior informed and revocable consent.
- The purpose for which the data is collected must be specified and only the minimum amount of information necessary can be collected.
- The data collected must be accurate and of good quality.
- There are confidentiality obligations for third parties regarding the use of the data.
- It is the government's responsibility to put into place procedures and mechanisms to monitor compliance with the data protection laws.
- There are civil, criminal and administrative liabilities for individuals and legal entities that violate the data protection laws.
But, in a civil law country, when courts make rulings, they usually are persuasive only as opposed to being legally binding, and even constitutional rulings cannot be implemented until enabling legislation is passed.
Absence of a Comprehensive Data Protection Law
In contrast to the European Union's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the United States' sectoral approach, and emerging Latin American data protection systems such as the ones in Brazil, Chile and Colombia, Venezuela has no independent data protection law. This lack of law leads to numerous types of uncertainty in the realm of data protection laws:
- No defined data controller or processor obligations
- No standardized lawful bases for processing
- No clear breach notification timelines
- No independent data protection authority
- No procedural pathway for individuals to seek redress
As a result, data protection in Venezuela is not treated as an independent legal discipline but instead becomes derivative, arising incidentally within constitutional litigation or sector-specific disputes.
Regulatory Fragmentation and Institutional Weakness
Due to the TSJ decisions made in 2011, there has been a lack of regulatory action taken in a systematic fashion and instead most actions have been done on a case by case basis as valid incidents arise. The National Cybersecurity Council was established in 2024; however, its function is to support the establishment of cybersecurity infrastructure and has no defined powers regarding the enforcement of privacy.
This creates a fragmented institutional landscape where:
- Authorities lack clear jurisdiction over privacy violations
- Companies face minimal compliance guidance
- Individuals struggle to understand or enforce their rights
The Movistar and Cashea incidents highlight how this fragmentation translates into practical impunity following major data exposures.
What’s Next? A Legal Opportunity for Reform
The repercussions of insufficient safeguards for data protection extend past the damage incurred to a person's privacy:
- Loss of trust in both financial and digital services
- Heightened likelihood of financial fraud and crime
- Lack of willingness from foreign companies to conduct business with Venezuela’s platforms.
- Long-term negative impact on the reputation of domestic companies.
- Possible inability to access cross-border transfer of data due to other jurisdictions’ decisions to restrict transfers into jurisdictions without cutting-edge enforcement of protections for privacy.
In a digital economy that increasingly requires robust data protection to function successfully, a lack of action to create strong protections will cause a significant economic impact.
Conclusion
Major data breaches such as the ones at Movistar in 2025 and Cashea App in 2026 show that constitutional privacy rights alone are insufficient without enforceable legal framework. Privacy laws must move from being just a principle to being a law that has institutions, procedures, and accountability to make sure the privacy of the users is protected.
Now with the global digital economy being so interconnected, not having regulations creates openings for vulnerabilities for people. If Venezuela hopes to protect their citizens, create an innovation-friendly environment, and compete in the global market, they must implement comprehensive data privacy reforms as soon as possible.
REFERENCES
- https://iapp.org/news/a/venezuela-data-breach-highlights-scattered-privacy-regulation
- https://www.apolocybersecurity.com/en/blog-posts/ciberataque-a-movistar-que-ha-pasado-a-quien-afecta-y-como-proteger-tus-datos
- https://darknetsearch.com/knowledge/news/en/cashea-app-data-leak-79m-records-exposed-in-venezuela/
- https://www.binance.com/en-IN/square/post/294369884695410
Executive Summary
Amid reports that AIIMS Delhi has initiated the process to implement the Supreme Court’s decision allowing passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a video is being shared on social media claiming to show his emotional farewell. However, research by the CyberPeace found the viral claim to be misleading. Our research revealed that the video has no connection to the Harish Rana case. In reality, the footage is from Surat, Gujarat, where the family of a 45-year-old brain-dead woman donated her organs.
Claim:
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), a user shared the viral video on March 16, 2026, with the caption:
“Harish Rana… struggled for life for 13 years… in the end said goodbye to the world through euthanasia… but even while leaving, gave new life to many through organ donation… eyes, liver, kidneys and several other organs will give a new life to many…”
Post link and archive link are given below:
Fact Check
We took screenshots from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search. This led us to an Instagram handle where the same video was uploaded on January 27, 2026.
- https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUAt_42k2ME/
According to the caption on the Instagram post, the video shows a brain-dead woman in Surat whose liver, both kidneys, and eyes were donated. The post also included an image of the woman. Based on clues from the viral video, we conducted a keyword search on Google and found a report on the website of News18 Gujarati.
According to the report, organ donation by Ritaben Hareshbhai Korat in Surat gave a new life to five patients. The report also carried her photograph, matching the visuals seen in the viral video.
Conclusion:
Our research found that the viral video has no connection to Harish Rana. It actually shows an incident from Surat, Gujarat, where the family of a 45-year-old brain-dead woman, Ritaben Korat, donated her organs.
