Fact Check: Huge swing falls off cliff, killing 1,950 people? No, video is AI-generated
A video claiming to show a tragic accident of a huge swing falling off a cliff is going viral on social media.
By - K Sherly Sharon
Claim:The video shows a real incident where a huge swing-like structure fell off a cliff, killing thousands of people.
Fact:The claim is false. The video is generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Hyderabad: A video claiming to show a tragic accident that claimed the lives of 1,950 people is going viral on social media. In the video, we can see a giant amusement park-style swing falling off a cliff.
It shows a large crowd gathered at the edge of a cliff watching and recording the incident. The swing has a cabin filled with people held by thick cables and a support structure. It appears to be swinging outward over the cliff when the cables snap, and the cabin falls off the cliff.
The Hindi text on the video reads, “The swing broke, killing 1,950 people; one mistake led to everyone’s death.” This video was shared on YouTube. (Archive)
Posts showing similar claims can be seen here. (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the viral claim is false. The video is generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Keyword searches did not bring up any news reports or credible social media posts about a huge amusement-park-style swing with people falling off a cliff.
We performed a reverse image search of the viral video keyframes and found the same footage uploaded to YouTube on September 23. The caption of the video reads, “Cliff swing malfunction tourist faces a heart-stopping moment.”
In the description, the video is flagged as ‘Altered or synthetic content’, meaning that the sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated.
Analysis of the video
We analysed the video closely and found several discrepancies.
When the cabin swings and the supporting cables snap, several distortions of the cables are observed before they completely disappear. An image showing the progression of this can be seen below.
AI detection tool, Hive Moderation, determined that the video is 99.9 per cent likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.
Therefore, it is clear that the video does not show a real incident where a huge swing-like structure fell off a cliff, killing thousands of people. The viral video is AI-generated. NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
