AI-Generated Deepfake Videos Falsely Show Bangladesh Chief Adviser Endorsing Betting Apps
Multiple AI-generated deepfake videos circulated on Meta's platforms falsely depicting Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus endorsing gambling apps. The videos manipulated footage from Al Jazeera's April 2025 interview with fabricated statements and were posted from accounts apparently operated from Lithuania.
What happened
Multiple AI-generated deepfake videos circulated on Meta platforms, particularly Facebook, falsely depicting Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus endorsing gambling and betting apps. One video, originally sourced from Al Jazeera's 'Talk to Al Jazeera' programme aired on April 27, 2025, was manipulated to show Yunus endorsing a gambling app called Blue Live, with fabricated statements about investment returns and a false bdnews24.com logo.
The Facebook account posting the Blue Live video was created on June 14, 2022, and appeared to be operated by multiple users based in Lithuania, containing only four posts all promoting gambling apps. Additional deepfake videos have featured Yunus promoting other betting sites such as Crazy Time Bangladesh, with fabricated claims that initiatives were taken to support student movements or flood victims.
Reported impact
The Chief Adviser's Press Wing warned that gambling ads targeting Bangladeshi users have taken a disturbing turn by exploiting Yunus's popularity to attract the public to gambling sites. The deepfake videos posed a risk of deceiving social media users into engaging with fraudulent gambling platforms.
Index analysis
The video featuring the Blue Live gambling app used robotic AI-generated voice that did not match Yunus's actual voice, and a reverse image search revealed the footage originated from Al Jazeera's April 27, 2025 broadcast. Investigation identified the posting account as based in Lithuania and operated by multiple users, with all posts promoting gambling applications.
Governance controls
The Chief Adviser's Press Wing issued a public statement urging social media users to exercise caution and avoid being deceived by the AI-generated deepfake videos. The statement detailed the methods used to identify the deepfakes, including reverse image search and analysis of the source footage from Al Jazeera's interview.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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