News Checker Fact Check: The call recording of the alleged conversation between Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal and YouTuber Dhruv Rathi is going viral on social media. On May 13, Swati Maliwal had accused Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her inside the Chief Minister’s residence. Since then, Aam Aadmi Party leader Swati Maliwal has been in the headlines. Dhruv Rathi is a YouTuber who makes videos on political topics and remains in the news every day for criticizing the ruling BJP government.
The 43-second long audio clip that is going viral on social media is the alleged conversation between Swati Maliwal and Dhruv Rathi:
Dhruv Rathi: “But who raised his hand?”
Swati Maliwal: “Bibhav.”
Dhruv Rathi: “You had refused resignation.”
Swati Maliwal: “I just asked for time and he got angry over that.”
Dhruv Rathi: “Arvind Sir was also there.”
Swati Maliwal: “Sunita was also there, she abused him and said beat him up.”
Dhruv Rathi: “And sir did not say anything.”
Swati Maliwal: “When I started screaming, they called the security and then both of them went inside.”
Dhruv Rathi: “You did not talk to Raghav.”
Swati Maliwal: “I called everybody, everybody… nobody is listening. You also be careful, they will trap you too. Did Sanjay call you here?”
Dhruv Rathee: “Yes he asked me to create a video on it.”
Swati Maliwal: “Please don’t make it, please. No need to defend them.”
Dhruv Rathi: “Don’t worry, I am with you, don’t worry.”
Swati Maliwal: “I am warning you, they will do the same with you too. Do you get your money on time?”
Dhruv Rathi: “Yes, I know from the UK, my channel is clear.”
Swati Maliwal: “Please no need to defend them on this.”
Dhruv Rathi: “I will call you, I will talk to you.”
At the beginning of the investigation, the Deepfake Analysis Unit (DAU) of the ‘Misinformation Combat Alliance’ (MCA), of which Newschecker is also a part, was contacted. The Deepfake Analysis Unit used Truemedia and Loccus to investigate this. He said that both tools confirm the conclusion that the audio has been manipulated. Truemedia has found sufficient evidence of manipulation in this audio during the investigation.
During our investigation, we also tested this audio on the AI cloning detector of ‘Eleven Labs’, which is famous for creating AI generated voices. According to this, there is an 84 percent chance that this audio file has been created with the help of Eleven Labs.
Now we also contacted Dhruv Rathi in this regard. He said that this is not his audio but has been prepared by AI. During the investigation, we also spoke to Swati Maliwal’s media head Vandana Singh. Vandana has also termed this audio as fake.
(This story was originally published by News Checker, Fact Check Desk, as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline/excerpt/opening introduction para this story has not been edited by News18india.com staff)
Tags: Fact Check, Fake news, Lok Sabha Elections
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 27, 2024, 19:32 IST