Introduction

A video of Geo News^[1] Reporter, Sana Mirza is shared on social media, where she is seen crying. The message conveyed through this video is that Geo News forces its reporters and anchors to report fake news about Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI). Digital Forensic Analysis was conducted to confirm the authenticity of this incident. The detailed analysis is given below.

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[1] Geo News is a Pakistani pay television news channel owned by the Jang Media Group.

Claim

A Facebook Page shared a video on April 15, 2022 of an anchor with the following caption:

یہ جیو نیوز کی اینکر ہے عمران خان سے لوگوں کا پیار دیکھ کر دل نے گوارہ نہیں کیا کہ جھوٹ بولے”

زبردستی رپورٹنگ نہیں کروائی جاتیں

نوکری سے پہلے وطن ہے“

“This is an anchor of Geo News. Seeing the love of people for Imran Khan she refused to do false reporting.

Reporting cannot be forced.

Homeland before employment”

When the data was retrieved the video had 153K reactions, 9.2K comments and 3.8 million views with 90K shares.

Debunked Source

https://www.facebook.com/ali01031750143/videos/945003646186441/

https://www.facebook.com/100079706989669/videos/338349301611255/

https://www.facebook.com/zahid.zahid.232/videos/661535494935172/

https://www.facebook.com/100079575597733/videos/792578435059101/

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=1134147160684100

https://www.facebook.com/100071858438254/videos/1870762149788039/

Fact Check

Using AI assisted tools we analyzed the key frame and conducted a reverse image search.

Through reverse image search we found that the video belongs to Geo News, in which News Reporter Sana Mirza is covering a PTI political gathering held on 15^th December, 2014. During the live broadcast, the reporter was allegedly harassed by PTI supporters, this caused her to become teary.

Source

https://www.geo.tv/latest/97028-sana-breaks-down-in-tears-amid-harassment-by-pti-workers

https://www.dawn.com/news/1151213

Rating

Misinformation/False Context

Conclusion

Our research confirmed that the viral video is being shared with a false context by unofficial PTI Facebook pages and supporters. The content is being spread to promote PTI, however, it does not carry any potential harm or threat. The video is not forced or inauthentic, moreover no synthetic means are being used to make the content viral. As Geo News is known for Yellow Journalism, the shared video is being circulated to mislead the audience and portray that the reporter is being forced to report false information about PTI gatherings.

ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis

Actor	Facebook page with huge number of followers is involved in spreading misinformation on social media.
Behavior	A video on social media claims Geo News forces its reporters and anchors to report fake news about Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI).
Content	Social Media posts.
Degree	The content is being spread to promote PTI, however, it does not carry any potential harm or threat. The video is not forced or inauthentic, moreover no synthetic means are being used to make the content viral.
Effect	The shared video is being circulated to mislead the audience and portray that the reporter is being forced to report false information about PTI gatherings.