Fact-Check: Edited Video Shared as CNN Report on ‘Goats Exploding’ in Lebanon

This video is a satire by Danny Polishchuk, a Toronto based comedian and actor.

Fact-Check: The audio is manipulated using AI.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video with the logo of American news channel Cable News Network (CNN) with journalist Jake Tapper hosting a show is being shared on social media platforms.

In the clip, the host spoke about the recent pager attack in Lebanon and mentioned that after using pagers and walkie-talkies, another attack took place where the rectum of goats exploded.

• At first, the anchor said, "Another shocking story coming out of Lebanon that's breaking right now. Two days ago, pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah were simultaneously detonated. And yesterday, walkie-talkies all over the country began exploding in another wave of what appears to be Israeli retaliations. But just moments ago, in a truly surreal twist, the rectums of goats all over the country exploded at the same time, killing an additional 1,800 people and injuring thousands of others as well as killing countless goats."

• Later, in the clip, the anchor called a purported CNN reporter, Kevin Brown who narrates that following the pager attack, another tension had come to light when goats exploded leading to "skyrocketing death tolls."

• Lastly, the anchor added, "PETA has just issued a statement denouncing the actions of the IDF for senselessly killing all those goats. However, you'd have to think if the IDF was behind this, they may have been doing those goats a huge favour."

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, this claim is false.

• Firstly, the voice of the anchor has been manipulated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

• The video is take on the situation in Lebanon in a satirical manner. The reporter's real name is Danny Polishchuk, a Toronto based comedian and actor.

What we found: At first, we ran a Google reverse image search on the keyframes of the video.

• We came across the same video on Polishchuk's page on X (formerly Twitter). It was uploaded on 19 September.

• Polishchuk is a comedian, actor and filmmaker and social media influencer.

• The artist has quote posted his own video and wrote, "Funny part about this is the AI app I used wouldn’t let me use Anderson Cooper because he’s a celebrity but didn’t consider Jake Tapper one." (sic.)

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

• Polishchuk stated that Eleven labs and Hedra AI were used to clone the voice for the anchor.

• Upon going through the artist's social media, we noticed that there were several sketches about the United States presidential elections and animal shelters.

• We, then, ran the video on AI-detection tools to get a better understanding.

Contrails.AI - We took the help of Contrails - a Bengaluru-based start-up to get the full report about the video.

• The report stated that CNN anchor's voice appeared to be AI-generated using RVC-cloning technology that is, the model is trained to replicate a voice by gathering and merging audio clips from the voice of the desired speaker.

• The frames of the video were not altered.

Here is the copy of the report.

(Source: Contrails.AI) 

• We also ran the file on TrueMedia and found that it also concluded that there was substantial evidence of manipulation using AI.

It stated that the audio was 99% manipulated. 

(Source: TrueMedia/Screenshot) 

The video was a satirical take on the situation in Lebanon where at least 32 individuals, including two children, lost their lives and numerous others were harmed, with many in critical condition, following the sudden explosions of communication devices, including some utilised by Hezbollah, that occurred in various parts of Lebanon.

• According to Lebanon's health ministry, in the most recent explosion on 18 September, 20 people were killed and at least 450 were injured by exploding walkie-talkies.

• The blasts worsened tensions following a sophisticated attack on Hezbollah members' pagers the day before. The militant group accused Israel for the situation, reported the BBC.

Conclusion: An edited, satirical video about Lebanon is being shared as real on social media platforms.

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