#FactCheck-Old Saudi Arabia Fire Video Falsely Shared as Footage of Recent U.S. Attack on Iran

Introduction

The unprecedented rise of social media, challenges with regional languages, and the heavy use of messaging apps like WhatsApp have all led to an increase in misinformation in India. False stories spread quickly and can cause significant harm, like political propaganda and health-related mis/misinformation. Programs that teach people how to use social media responsibly and attempt to check facts are essential, but they do not always connect with people deeply. Reading stories, attending lectures, and using tools that check facts are standard passive learning methods used in traditional media literacy programs. 

Adding game-like features to non-game settings is called "gamification," it could be a new and interesting way to answer this question. Gamification involves engaging people by making them active players instead of just passive consumers of information. Research shows that interactive learning improves interest, thinking skills, and memory. People can learn to recognise fake news safely by turning fact-checking into a game before encountering it in real life. A study by Roozenbeek and van der Linden (2019) showed that playing misinformation games can significantly enhance people's capacity to recognise and avoid false information.

Several misinformation-related games have been successfully implemented worldwide:

• The Bad News Game – This browser-based game by Cambridge University lets players step into the shoes of a fake news creator, teaching them how misinformation is crafted and spread (Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019).
• Factitious – A quiz game where users swipe left or right to decide whether a news headline is real or fake (Guess et al., 2020).
• Go Viral! – A game designed to inoculate people against COVID-19 misinformation by simulating the tactics used by fake news peddlers (van der Linden et al., 2020).

For programs to effectively combat misinformation in India, they must consider factors such as the responsible use of smartphones, evolving language trends, and common misinformation patterns in the country. Here are some key aspects to keep in mind:

1. Vernacular Languages

There should be games in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, and other major languages since that is how rumours spread in different areas and diverse cultural contexts. AI voice conversation and translation can help reduce literacy differences. Research shows that people are more likely to engage with and trust information in their native language (Pennycook & Rand, 2019).

2. Games Based on WhatsApp

Interactive tests and chatbot-powered games can educate consumers directly within the app they use most frequently since WhatsApp is a significant hub for false information. A game with a WhatsApp-like interface where players may feel like they are in real life, having to decide whether to avoid, check the facts of, or forward messages that are going viral could be helpful in India.

3. Detecting False Information

As part of a mobile-friendly game, players can pretend to be reporters or fact-checkers and have to prove stories that are going viral. They can do the same with real-life tools like reverse picture searches or reliable websites that check facts. Research shows that doing interactive tasks to find fake news makes people more aware of it over time (Lewandowsky et al., 2017).

4. Reward-Based Participation

Participation could be increased by providing rewards for finishing misleading challenges, such as badges, diplomas, or even incentives on mobile data. This might be easier to do if there are relationships with phone companies. Reward-based learning has made people more interested and motivated in digital literacy classes (Deterding et al., 2011).

5. Universities and Schools 

Educational institutions can help people spot false information by adding game-like elements to their lessons. Hamari et al. (2014) say that students are more likely to join and remember what they learn when there are competitive and interactive parts to the learning. Misinformation games can be used in media studies classes at schools and universities by using models to teach students how to check sources, spot bias, and understand the psychological tricks that misinformation campaigns use.

What Artificial Intelligence Can Do for Gamification

Artificial intelligence can tailor learning experiences to each player in false games. AI-powered misinformation detection bots could lead participants through situations tailored to their learning level, ensuring they are consistently challenged. Recent natural language processing (NLP) developments enable AI to identify nuanced misinformation patterns and adjust gameplay accordingly (Zellers et al., 2019). This could be especially helpful in India, where fake news is spread differently depending on the language and area.

Possible Opportunities

Augmented reality (AR) scavenger hunts for misinformation, interactive misinformation events, and educational misinformation tournaments are all examples of games that help fight misinformation. India can help millions, especially young people, think critically and combat the spread of false information by making media literacy fun and interesting. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in gamified treatments for misinformation could be a fascinating area of study in the future. AI-powered bots could mimic real-time cases of misinformation and give quick feedback, which would help students learn more.

Problems and Moral Consequences

While gaming is an interesting way to fight false information, it also comes with some problems that you should think about:

• Ethical Concerns: Games that try to imitate how fake news spreads must ensure players do not learn how to spread false information by accident.
• Scalability: Although worldwide misinformation initiatives exist, developing and expanding localised versions for India's varied language and cultural contexts provide significant challenges.
• Assessing Impact: There is a necessity for rigorous research approaches to evaluate the efficacy of gamified treatments in altering misinformation-related behaviours, keeping cultural and socio-economic contexts in the picture.

Conclusion 

A gamified approach can serve as an effective tool in India's fight against misinformation. By integrating game elements into digital literacy programs, it can encourage critical thinking and help people recognize misinformation more effectively. The goal is to scale these efforts, collaborate with educators, and leverage India's rapidly evolving technology to make fact-checking a regular practice rather than an occasional concern.

As technology and misinformation evolve, so must the strategies to counter them. A coordinated and multifaceted approach, one that involves active participation from netizens, strict platform guidelines, fact-checking initiatives, and support from expert organizations that proactively prebunk and debunk misinformation can be a strong way forward.

References

• Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification". Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference.
• Guess, A., Nagler, J., & Tucker, J. (2020). Less than you think: Prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook. Science Advances.
• Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work?—A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
• Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K., & Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “post-truth” era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.
• Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2019). Fighting misinformation on social media using “accuracy prompts”. Nature Human Behaviour.
• Roozenbeek, J., & van der Linden, S. (2019). The fake news game: actively inoculating against the risk of misinformation. Journal of Risk Research.
• van der Linden, S., Roozenbeek, J., Compton, J. (2020). Inoculating against fake news about COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology.
• Zellers, R., Holtzman, A., Rashkin, H., Bisk, Y., Farhadi, A., Roesner, F., & Choi, Y. (2019). Defending against neural fake news. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems.

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Executive Summary

A video is going viral on social media claiming that a salon has been opened inside a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM in Bihar. The video is also being used by some users to take political jibes at the central and state governments led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the CyberPeace Research Wing’s research has found that this claim is misleading. The location shown in the viral video was earlier an SBI ATM, which had been shut down around six months ago. After the bank discontinued its operations at the site, the ATM machine and other equipment were removed. However, the external structure of the ATM cabin and the SBI signage were not removed at that time. After the premises were vacated, the property owner rented out the space to a salon operator. Since the SBI board and branding were still visible on the structure, the video created confusion and went viral with misleading claims.

Following the circulation of the video, the bank later removed its signage from the location and also cleared all remaining SBI branding from the structure. Our research  also found that the bank had removed the ATM machine and equipment months earlier, but the cabin structure and SBI board were left behind. After that, the space was rented out for commercial use as a salon. In this context, it would be incorrect to claim that a salon was opened inside an active SBI ATM.

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Claim

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A Facebook user ‘Soumitra Roy’ shared a video on 11 May 2026 claiming:

“Someone has opened a barber shop inside an SBI ATM in Bihar. The BJP’s double-engine government has developed Bihar so much that loan EMIs can now be deducted directly inside ATMs. This is Modi’s masterstroke.”

• https://www.facebook.com/reel/980962511535926
• https://perma.cc/WTY2-WEQQ

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Fact Check

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To verify the viral claim, a keyword search based on the video was conducted. Several media reports were found, which clarified the full context of the incident. A report uploaded on the YouTube channel ‘Live Cities’ on 12 May 2026 stated that a salon was running at a former ATM location in Danapur, Bihar. The bank had already vacated the premises about six months earlier, but its signage had not been removed. The report also includes an interview with the property owner, who confirmed that the bank had removed its ATM machine and equipment six months ago and later the space was rented out to a salon operator.

• https://youtu.be/POPIueYCDT4

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The viral video was also found on the Jagran website in a news report dated 11 May 2026. The report states that an SBI ATM previously existed at the location. The bank had removed the ATM machine due to operational reasons but left behind the external structure and signage. Later, the space was rented out to a salon operator, who began running his business from the same setup.

• https://www.jagran.com/bihar/patna-city-patnas-unique-atm-salon-haircuts-replace-cash-withdrawals-40235014.html

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Conclusion

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Our research  found that the viral post is misleading. It is incorrect to claim that a salon was opened inside an SBI ATM. The truth is that the bank had shut down the ATM at this location around six months ago and removed all machines and equipment. After that, the premises were rented out to a salon operator, which led to confusion due to the presence of old SBI signage.

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Introduction

AI-generated fake videos are proliferating on the Internet indeed becoming more common by the day. There is a use of sophisticated AI algorithms that help manipulate or generate multimedia content such as videos, audio, and images. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine, altered, or fake content, and these AI-manipulated videos look realistic. A recent study has shown that 98% of deepfake-generated videos have adult content featuring young girls, women, and children, with India ranking 6th among the nations that suffer from misuse of deepfake technology. This practice has dangerous consequences and could harm an individual's reputation, and criminals could use this technology to create a false narrative about a candidate or a political party during elections.

The working of deepfake videos is based on algorithms that refine the fake content, and the generators are built and trained in such a way as to get the desired output. The process is repeated several times, allowing the generator to improve the content until it seems realistic, making it more flawless. Deepfake videos are created by specific approaches some of them are: -

• Lip syncing: This is the most common technique used in deepfake. Here, the voice recordings of the video, make it appear as to what was originally said by the person appearing in the video.
• Audio deepfake:  For Audio-generated deepfake, a generative adversarial network (GAN) is used to colon a person’s voice, based on the vocal patterns and refine it till the desired output is generated.

• Deepfake has become so serious that the technology could be used by bad actors or by cyber-terrorist squads to set their Geo-political agendas.  Looking at the present situation in the past few the number of cases has just doubled, targeting children, women and popular faces. 

• Greater Risk: in the last few years the cases of deep fake have risen. by the end of the year 2022, the number of cases has risen to 96% against women and children according to a survey.
• Every 60 seconds, a deepfake pornographic video is created, now quicker and more affordable than ever, it takes less than 25 minutes and costs using just one clean face image.  
• The connection to deepfakes is that people can become targets of "revenge porn" without the publisher having sexually explicit photographs or films of the victim. They may be made using any number of random pictures or images collected from the internet to obtain the same result. This means that almost everyone who has taken a selfie or shared a photograph of oneself online faces the possibility of a deepfake being constructed in their image.

Deepfake-related security concerns

As deepfakes proliferate, more people are realising that they can be used not only to create non-consensual porn but also as part of disinformation and fake news campaigns with the potential to sway elections and rekindle frozen or low-intensity conflicts.

Deepfakes have three security implications: at the international level, strategic deepfakes have the potential to destroy precarious peace; at the national level, deepfakes may be used to unduly influence elections, and the political process, or discredit opposition, which is a national security concern, and at the personal level, the scope for using Women suffer disproportionately from exposure to sexually explicit content as compared to males, and they are more frequently threatened. 

Policy Consideration

Looking at the present situation where the cases of deepfake are on the rise against women and children, the policymakers need to be aware that deepfakes are utilized for a variety of valid objectives, including artistic and satirical works, which policymakers should be aware of. Therefore, simply banning deepfakes is not a way consistent with fundamental liberties. One conceivable legislative option is to require a content warning or disclaimer. Deepfake is an advanced technology and misuse of deepfake technology is a crime.

What are the existing rules to combat deepfakes?

It's worth noting that both the IT Act of 2000 and the IT Rules of 2021 require social media intermediaries to remove deep-fake videos or images as soon as feasible. Failure to follow these guidelines can result in up to three years in jail and a Rs 1 lakh fine. Rule 3(1)(b)(vii) requires social media intermediaries to guarantee that its users do not host content that impersonates another person, and Rule 3(2)(b) requires such content to be withdrawn within 24 hours of receiving a complaint. Furthermore, the government has stipulated that any post must be removed within 36 hours of being published online. Recently government has also issued an advisory to social media intermediaries to identify misinformation and deepfakes.

Conclusion

It is important to foster ethical and responsible consumption of technology. This can only be achieved by creating standards for both the creators and users, educating individuals about content limits, and providing information. Internet-based platforms should also devise techniques to deter the uploading of inappropriate information. We can reduce the negative and misleading impacts of deepfakes by collaborating and ensuring technology can be used in a better manner.  

References

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/parenting/moments/how-social-media-scandals-like-deepfake-impact-minors-and-students-mental-health/articleshow/105168380.cms?from=mdr
• https://www.aa.com.tr/en/science-technology/deepfake-technology-putting-children-at-risk-say-experts/2980880
• https://wiisglobal.org/deepfakes-as-a-security-issue-why-gender-matters/