Fact Checkers debunk new Senegalese President viral video as a deepfake

L.S.M Kabweza Avatar

L.S.M Kabweza

Sonko fake video

Unless you don’t care at all about politics you probably came across this viral video this week:

If you follow Zimbabwe’s politics then you also probably read former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo’s comment when he tweeted the video:

A TOUR DE FORCE 👏🏽👏🏽

It is manifestly clear from what he says on this video clip and indeed from what he has said elsewhere in his related public engagements that Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegal’s history-making 44-year-old President-Elect, is an ideologically solid, articulate and progressive African nationalist par excellence; with a generational difference rooted in the African experience. 

It wasn’t just Moyo. The video went viral. Even our colleagues at Pindula shared it on their WhatsApp channel.

Deepfake

It turns out a lot about the video is not true.

The person in the video is not Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegal’s President Elect. It’s Ousmane Sonko, who is said to be Faye’s mentor. This ofcourse can just verified by checking Faye’s pictures on the internet. He’s not the person in the video.

But incorrect captions aside, the video itself is a Deepfake. Fact-checkers at The Cable in Nigeria have established it’s a manipulated version of a press conference held by Sonko in 2021.

Sonko delivered the speech in French, and even then, maybe he did not say all the things he was made to say in the English video.

Faked information or just faked video?

TheCable’s investigation establishes the video is fake. But is the information fake as well? Is it maybe just a translation of Sonko’s speech?

The video of the actual press conference is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYBP_X1ddyo

And Sonko tweeted a thread of what TheCable says is a transcription of the speech here: https://twitter.com/SonkoOfficiel/status/1410981086801403904

Techzim asked Gemini, Google’s Generative AI tool, to translate Sonko’s X thread, so we could determine if it agrees with information in the AI generated Deepfake. Gemini gave us a summary of the thread, which did not mention France at all.

So we asked it for a direct translation instead, and that did contain criticism of France by Sonko. In fact it contained some words used in the Deepfake:

…it is time for France to lift its knee from our neck and do as its European peers (Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, etc.) who prosper without sucking the blood of the former colonies.

The other thing is that Sonko’s French speech in the video is 1 hour 30 mins long. His X thread on the other hand has just 1,340 words, which would maybe account for 15-30 minutes of the speech? It’s hard to says without understanding both languages.

The video is faked. And the intention of its creation seems to have been to deceive. How do you give benefit of “maybe it just translation” doubt to it?

39 comments

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  1. 🆗

    On X Zimbos went overboard to vilify Chamisa as a puppet of the west as Faye was praised as a Pan African.
    We will never be reconciled politically in this country because we are deeply divided.

    Reply
    1. Kobr∆ Kommander

      If you can answer on who divides people, then perhaps we have a chance to stop it before it’s too late and the country is not too far gone.

      Hint: varoyi divide people

      Reply
  2. Alternative Histories

    The potential impact of AI-generated content on historical narratives is genuinely unsettling. Consider the scenario where ‘lost’ media suddenly resurfaces, recontextualizing some of the most reprehensible events in modern history. It could also muddy the waters when deciphering what prominent figures or those around them truly said. The risk of incitement becomes all too real. Just imagine stumbling upon an archived hot mic recording of Ian Smith, where he candidly admits to believing in black rule, but acknowledges that Britain and the West would only allow the transition of a strong, industrialised Zimbabwe if he built it and then ‘lost’ it while he played the role of the villain. 😂

    Anyway, lets hope such nonsense wont kneecap AI development by having governments stick their fingers in every line of code.

    Reply
    1. Always Off Topic

      AI is already out of control , I remember reading a story about a US school where ” bullies” would generate deepfake XXX images of classmates and post them on the net.
      The situation is similar to what we saw during the crypto hype period.
      And just like what we saw with cryptos, the legislation will only kick in after the disasters manifest.

      Reply
      1. 🐻

        Council of Ministers
        A Committee formed from those Ministries directly involved with the Soviet Aviation Industry – Ministry of Aircraft Industry, Defence, Civil Aviation, Higher and Specialised Education and Foreign Trade.

        Reply
    2. Imi Vanhu Musadaro

      You never needed AI to do that. AI makes it moderately easier but, again, it does not NEED AI to be done.

      Reply
      1. Kobr∆ Kommander

        Is it possible to make AI that will collaborate with government agencies to; allocate resources, flag fraudulent transactions, track bad guys, make policy suggestions, make predictions (best guesses), realtime monthly and quarterly reports, weather prediction and modeling. Not quite on the level of Minority Report but there and there about, something like a benevolent SKYNET. #ThisFall

        Reply
  3. The Or∆cle

    Your thoughts are not yours.

    Mind control researcher and author Jim Keith summarised,

    “Tavistock, a collaborative effort of British Military Intelligence and the psychiatric establishment was created in 1921 reportedly on the orders of members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham house). The RIIA is an arm of the British Rhodes Round Table group, founded by British imperialist and freemason Cecil Rhodes. The Round Table, functioning through a myriad of offshoots, has been this century’s most effective proponent for the creation of a one world government. Tavistock relies on grants for its operation from the Rockefellers, Carnegies, the British Home Office and large anonymous grants. Initially run by British Military intelligence officer Major John Rawlings, from its inception Tavistock was intended as a coordinating centre for planetary social control using “psychological shock troops a term coined by Rees.” Your Thoughts Are Not Your Own

    Mind Control, Mass Manipulation and Perception Management
    By Neil Sanders

    Reply
  4. Dereck

    Guys is anyone else’s pindula not working? Mine is saying java certificate etc..

    Reply
    1. Gagashe

      Yangu ikuita though they haven’t posted since Thursday

      Reply
      1. Anon

        The slowdown started with Techzim , now it’s Pindula, what’s going on?

        Reply
      2. Gagashe

        Zim is tough Ano. Though w’all need to rest – essential services don’t have to.

        Reply
    2. Harmony Dube

      Hi Dereck. If you’re still having issues with Pindula [to be specific the free android pindula app], where it’s saying “java.security.cert.CertPathVali”, please try doing the following.

      1. Open the app, & by default it lands on the ‘News’ tab. [this is where it is showing the above error message.

      2. Tap the ‘Explore’ tab. On the ‘Explore’ page it displays ‘Buy Airtime’, ‘Pay Nyaradzo’, ‘Pindula Jobs’, ‘Elections’, etc.
      Open ‘Tech News’, which is at the very bottom. This will take you to the TechZim website.

      3. Once the website opens, press BACK, And it will take you back to the “Explore” tab Menu I mentioned above.

      4. When you’re back at the Explore tab select ‘Pindula Jobs’. If Pindula Jobs opens, then press the ‘News’ tab, & from then on your Pindula app will be working fine.

      5. ***If at first you don’t succeed on step number 3, try going back and forth between ‘Tech News’ and ‘Pindula Jobs’. After a few trials you will succeed in accessing ‘Pindula Jobs’. Once you’re able to open ‘Pindula Jobs’, the ‘News’ tab will start working.

      This is just a work around solution that will help you gain access.

      I have done this myself, even when I was typing this [on my other phone of course], & it works

      I hope it’s simple enough to understand 😹

      Reply
      1. Harmony Dube

        ***on step number 3, if the problem persists as you’re jumping between ‘Tech News’ and ‘Pindula Jobs’, just open any article on TechZim and scroll through the article down to the comments, then jump back to ‘Pindula Jobs’ and then to Pindula News.

        Reply
  5. Kobr∆ Kommander

    Kure kure kure. Swaa!

    Reply
  6. late news

    this “latest news” is now 5 days old …. yawn …. !!!

    Reply
    1. Gagashe

      🥱 ndokuti Techzim

      Reply
  7. Joseph Frank Appiah-Nyamekye

    What developments are we seeing on social media nowadays. Whoever faked Faye and used Sonko’s speech of 2021 to make it appear as a speech delivered by Faye. What’s the rational behind this act ? Is an act like this not punishable? How does Faye himself respond to such video purpurted to have been made by him, or we are being made to believe was made by him, which is now being debunked by Facts Check ? Is he comfortable with his name being associated with a video niw being debunked as not coming from him ?

    Reply
  8. Lexxx

    Rambakuudzwa / akazoonekwa / nembonje pahuma (Headstrong / was found / with a head wound) 74 Chivendekete / anoseka / Chimedure (Cracked / laughs at / Broken; viz. The pot calls the kettle black) 456 Chipitipiti / chakazvara / Chimwandamwanda (Congregation / bred / Separation; viz. Familiarity breeds contempt)

    Reply
  9. Third Eye🕵🏿‍♂️

    TONY BUTTLER & YEFIM GORDON SOVIET SECRET PROJECTS The aviation industry of the former Soviet Union produced many outstanding military aircraft. However, there were many other proposed projects and designs that never saw the light of day and almost all of them were completely unknown in the West. The end of the Cold War gives the opportunity for researchers in Russia to uncover these projects for the first time.
    As with Soviet Secret Projects: Bombers Since 1945, this volume presents many of the fighter projects created between the end of World War Two and the present day and shows just how creative the design bureaux could be. A large proportion come from the established fighter OKBs – Lavochkin, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, and Yakovlev – but there are others from individuals and smaller organisations. Access to original archives and records has ensured a level of in-depth coverage and accuracy that was previously impossible.
    Soviet Secret Projects also describes the competitions between these projects for orders and shows the progress made in air-craft design behind the Iron Curtain. It will give both experts and enthusiasts the chance to compare this work to Western aircraft programmes. Most of the drawings and illus-trations have never previously been pub-lished and many of the ‘might-have-been’ types are depicted in artwork or model form.

    Reply
    1. Photo Comment 🎥📸🤳🏿

      Above: The second Yak-25 seen in flight with undertip drop tanks.

      Below: Engine designer Arkhip Lyul’ka.

      Reply
    2. Third Eye🕵🏿‍♂️

      Although the subtitle of this book is Fighters since 1945, the story of the Soviet Union’s tur-bojet engines, and therefore its first jet-pow-ered aircraft designs, actually begins much earlier in 1937 – in fact the first Soviet proposal for a jet engine was made by B S Stechkin in 1929. To help understand what has happened since 1945, it is worth making a brief review of what took place during those preceding years.
      The first detailed Soviet jet engine design was drawn by Arkhip M Lyul’ka at the Kharkov Aviation Institute (KhAI) in Ukraine and was called the RTD-1 (rocket turbojet engine); it used a centrifugal compressor and was intended to give 4.9kN (1,1001b) of static thrust. At the same time the KhAI-2 fighter project was designed around this power unit and was intended to reach a top speed of 900km/h (559mph). A P Yeremenko, a KhAI undergraduate, worked with Lyul’ka on the fighter’s layout and, although the Institute’s scientific council was unimpressed, Lyul’ka was recommended to present the project to officials in Moscow. There Professor V V Uvarov, a specialist who was heading research into turboprop engines, assessed the papers and rated the project highly. How-ever, at this time insufficient resources were available to make the fighter a reality but the KhAI-2 project can claim to be one of the world’s first jet-powered aircraft designs.
      In 1938 Lyul’ka moved to SKB-1 (Special Design Bureau No 1), which was based at the Kirov Factory in Leningrad (now St Peters-burg), and during the following year work began on the 5.1kN (1,1551b) thrust RD-1 engine which used an axial compressor (this engine should not be confused with a later liq-uid-propellant rocket engine that received the same designation). Progress was swift and by May 1941 around 70% of the components for the first RD-1 had been manufactured, the combustion chamber and turbine were undergoing bench testing and construction of the compressor was under way. Unfortu-nately, Germany’s invasion of Russia on 22nd…..

      Reply
      1. Yob 1

        I love the way the Russians love their poets, writers, film makers, ballerinas, athletes, cosmanauts and artists.

        They make Mig 29s bruv.

        Reply
    3. 50s Kid🗝️

      The 1950s saw probably the greatest advances in fighter design since the dawn of the jet age. Besides the improvements in aerodynamics and engines, which took the speed range from about Mach 1 at the start of the decade to at least Mach 2 by the end, there were concurrent developments in the equipment and weapons carried by these air-craft. The air-to-air missile (AAM) was a big step forward, although the early generations of missiles were quite limited in what they were capable of achieving. Missile designers worldwide had to overcome many develop-ment problems, but a weakness of some early Soviet AAMs was that the fighter had to stay on the level to hit its target. If the target banked the missile would fall out of the radar cone beamed onto it by the defending fighter.
      Recognition has already been given to the Soviet Union’s need to produce fighters, or rather interceptors, that could deal with reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 flying at very high altitudes. However, not only was it hard work getting some of these early super-sonic fighters up to heights well in excess of 15,240m (50,000ft) to make their intercep-tions and attacks, but there were also prob-lems operating at such heights, particularly concerning stability and manoeuvrability.
      During the late 1950s and early 1960s manoeuvring to make an attack on a high-fly-ing bomber could be extremely difficult because certain bombers, and in particular the British Avro Vulcan, could out-turn any fighter at heights around 50,000ft and more;
      this presented real problems to the Soviet fighter designer. Yet, within a few years the advent of surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) had forced enemy bombers to make at least part of their attacks at low level, because suddenly they were very vulnerable when flying at height. In consequence fight-ers now had to be developed that were capa-ble of making interceptions at low level.
      The key elements for an interceptor fighter were its missiles and radar. The two pieces of The Sukhoi T-49 prototype with its most unusual air intake arrangement.
      equipment had to work together and the weakest element of the system would set the capability of the aircraft as a whole. However, a good radar was critical for finding a target.
      Coverage has already been given to the Sukhoi Su-9 and Su-11, which introduced the concept of a weapon system that combined both air and ground-based radars to help the fighter find its target. One of the earliest Soviet radars was the Toriy (Thorium) set developed by a team based at the NII-17 Research Insti-tute in Moscow and led by A B Slepooshkin, the pioneer of Soviet radar technology. The development of early warning detection and tracking radars, like the Toriy, began in earnest in 1946, but by the mid-1950s more sophisticated equipment was becoming available which needed the right aircraft to carry it. This chapter takes a look at the first

      Reply
      1. Coat of Arms 🦄🦁⚔️

        A Unicorn 🦄 is a Horse designed by a committee. Who doesn’t like Unicorn’s?

        Council of Ministers
        A Committee formed from those Ministries directly involved with the Soviet Aviation Industry – Ministry of Aircraft Industry, Defence, Civil Aviation, Higher and Specialised Education and Foreign Trade.

        Reply
        1. Su/Mig/Tupo Lovers Club 🧿

          Making use of that education you spend most of your young life doing…..

          GAZ Gosudarslvenny Aviatsionny Zavod (State Aircraft Factory).
          GKAT Gosudarslvenny Komilet Aviatsionny Teknniki (State Committee for Aviation Equipment).
          GKO Gosudarslvenny Komilet Oborony (State Committee for Defence).
          GosNIIAS State Research Institute of Aviation Systems.
          ICBM intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
          IFR In-flight refuelling.
          IstrebiteP Fighter.
          Izdeliye Product, Article or Aircraft.
          Laminar Flow Wing Specifically designed to ensure a smooth flow of air over its surfaces with uniform separation between the layers of air.
          LERX Leading edge root extensions.
          LII Flight Test Research Institute of the Ministry of Aircraft Industry (MAP).
          Mach Number Ratio of aeroplane’s speed to that of sound in the surrounding medium -expressed as a decimal.
          MAI Moskovskii Avialsionii Inslitut (Moscow Aviation Institute).
          MAP Minislerstvo Aviatsionnoy Promysh Lennosli (Ministry of Aircraft Industry).
          NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
          Nil WS Nauchno Issledovatelyskii Inslitut (Soviet Air Force Scientific and Research Institute based at Akhtoobinsk).
          N KAP Narodny Komissariat Aviatsionnoi Promyshlennosti (People’s Commissariat for Heavy Industry).
          NTS Scientific and Technical Committee.
          OKB Opytno Konstruklorskoye Byuro (Experimental Construction/Design Bureau).
          Politburo The Central Committee of the Communist Party. This was responsible for policy and worked with the Council of Ministers.
          PVO Prolivovozdushnaya Oborona (Air Defence Forces).
          RATOG Rocket-Assisted Take-Off Gear.
          SibNIA Siberian Scientific Institute of Aerodynamics S/L Sea level SKB Special Design Bureau.
          SovMin Soviet Ministry.
          STOL Short Take-Off and Landing.
          STOVL Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing.
          t/c Thickness/chord ratio.
          Transonic Flight The speed range either side of Mach 1.0 where an aircraft has both subsonic and supersonic airflow passing over it at the same time.
          TsAGI Tsentrahl’nyy Aero-i Ghidrodinameecheskiy Institoot (Central State Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic Institute), Zhukovsky.
          TsIAM Central Institute of Aviation Motors.
          VG Variable Geometry VIAM Vsesoyuzny Inslitut Aviatsionnykh Malerialov (All-Union Institute for Aviation Materials).
          VRD Vozdooshno-Reaktivnyy Dvigalel (Air Reaction Engine).
          V/STOL Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing.
          VTOL Vertical Take-Off and Landing.
          WS Voenno-Vozdushniye Sily (Air Force of the USSR).

          Reply
          1. Space Invader👾

            How far with Reaction Engine’s reusable space plane. Skylon? Sabre Engine?

            Mach 7, commercial flight?

            Reply
  10. Dzidzai

    Kutenda kuMwanakomana waMwari
    5Mumwe nomumwe anotenda kuti Jesu ndiye Kristu, akaberekwa naMwari, uye mumwe nomumwe anoda baba anodawo mwana wavo. 2 Izvi ndizvo zvatinoziva nazvo kuti tinoda vana vaMwari: kana tichida Mwari uye tichiita mirayiro yake. 3 Uku ndiko kuda Mwari: kuteerera mirayiro yake. Uye mirayiro yake hairemi, 4 nokuti vose vakaberekwa naMwari vanokunda nyika. Uku ndiko kukunda kwakakunda nyika, iko kutenda kwedu. 5 Ndianiko anokunda nyika? Ndiye chete anotenda kuti Jesu ndiye Mwanakomana waMwari.

    Reply
    1. Salif Keit∆

      Kultie Kid mu Albino. What Gwan Rasta. Let’s do di ting. That ting. 🧗🏾‍♂️

      Reply
      1. Cde. Vainona

        I remember Kulture that they tried to hit me with a car. Borrowdale road, cnr Harare drive. Back then it was a sango all the way kusvika paHood.

        Something told me to run, then I ran. The Peugeot 405 missed me by a whisker 🚀. I remember the cold and stern faces on the driver and passenger till this day. She came to remind me, the same lady who said I saw a snake coming towards tou but decided not to tell you. Man if you see a snake, warn me. Fortunately the snake just wiggled harmlessly through my legs game deya or nutmeg muchingezi.

        They have been at this for a long time. They know more about me than I do about myself. They tried to drown me at Highlands school in grade 3. David Stewart got the rope I got the short end. I was saved by a Lifeguard who was at the pool for a free swim.

        Then they said tou can have whatever you like just do not say anything and stay indoors.
        Sorry, no. I want to rule my destiny.

        Reply
        1. Inspekt∆ Deck🕵🏾‍♂️

          These are the same people chasing you around, they have no shame.

          Reply
  11. Newsweek

    Tomorrows headline.

    War criminal delivers speech to starving orphans.

    He is really a good guy.

    Reply

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