This viral photo of Sonia Gandhi holding a cigarette is morphed using an AI face swap tool
A black and white photo, purportedly showing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi holding a cigarette in her youth is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, here, & here). Through this article, let’s fact-check the authenticity of the viral photo.
Claim: Photo of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi holding a cigarette in her youth.
Fact: This viral photo showing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi holding a cigarette in her youth is morphed. The original picture doesn’t feature Sonia Gandhi’s face. Her face has been swapped with that of the original using an AI face-swapping tool named ‘Remaker’. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon carefully observing the viral photo, we noticed a watermark at the bottom left corner that reads: ‘Remaker.’ We then searched on Google about ‘Remaker’ and found that ‘Remaker’ is an AI editing tool offering several features, including an ‘AI face swap online’ tool. This free online face changer allows users to swap heads and replace faces in photos. This suggests that the viral image was probably created using this face-swapping tool, with Sonia Gandhi’s face inserted in place of the original.
We then conducted a Google reverse image search to trace the original photo. This search led us to a photograph uploaded on ‘Tumblr’ on 26 February 2013. Except for the face, the photograph is identical to the viral image. Below the image, the caption reads: ‘Ghazale Photographed by Farzad Sarfarazi, 2012.‘ A comparison of the viral photo with this Tumblr photo can be seen below.
We also found that several users have shared this photograph on social media, attributing it to Farzad Sarfarazi (here, here, here and here).
To sum up, this photo showing Sonia Gandhi holding a cigarette in her youth is digitally morphed using an AI face swap tool named ‘Remaker’.