Viral clip of woman shooting at motorcyclist was AI-generated, fact-check finds

ISLAMABAD: A widely shared social media video that purported to show a woman opening fire after a motorcyclist allegedly tried to approach her was generated using artificial intelligence, according to a fact-check published by iVerify Pakistan, a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.

The clip began circulating on Sunday across multiple platforms. It shows a man on a motorcycle moving toward a woman walking on a street, apparently executing a 180-degree drift before the woman, dressed in a burka, appears to pull out a gun and fire in his direction, after which the rider flees. According to the fact-check, one post on X drew 333,000 views, while an Indian account shared the same video on Instagram where it received around 171,000 likes. Another Instagram post gained 34,300 likes, and a separate X post by an Indian user attracted 170,000 views. The video was also shared on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, collectively drawing 10,000 additional views.

How the video was assessed

The fact-check said it was launched because of the clip’s wide circulation and public interest. A frame-by-frame review identified several visual irregularities. It noted that the motorcyclist appeared to bring the bike to a stop in a stunt-like 180-degree drift that looked unusually smooth, with no skid marks visible on the road.

At the one-second mark, the review found that the gun abruptly appears in the woman’s hand, seeming to morph into the footage. It also said that at the four-second mark, the dust cloud created after the woman fires at the road looks unusually large and dense despite the surface appearing to be asphalt. The same analysis noted that when the rider speeds away, the motorcycle’s rear wheel appears to kick up a similarly heavy amount of dust on what otherwise looks like a clean asphalt road.

AI detection tools and source tracing

The fact-check said the clip was also examined using AI-detection tools. Hive Moderation labelled it 94.2 per cent AI-generated, while Deepfake Detection assessed it as 97pc AI-generated. It added that X had also marked one post sharing the video as AI-generated content.

A reverse image search, according to the review, found that the same clip had originally been posted by an Instagram account known for repeatedly sharing similar AI-generated videos. The fact-check said the video was uploaded on June 27, 2026, and that this was the earliest version located online.

iVerify Pakistan concluded that the claim was false and that the viral video does not show a real incident of a woman shooting at a harasser on a motorcycle.