Fact check: Viral image of police kicking a sanitation…

In September 2026, a viral image alleging police brutality against a female sanitation worker during a protest in Haryana circulated widely across social media platforms. The image, which claimed to show a policeman kicking a protester, was used to fuel public outrage regarding ongoing sanitation strikes in Hisar and Bahadurgarh.

What happened

The image surfaced amidst real-world confrontations between sanitation workers and administration teams, lending it a veneer of credibility to social media users. Investigation by Lighthouse Journalism revealed the image was entirely AI-generated rather than a documentation of actual events. Researchers identified visual discrepancies, such as unnaturally sharp faces and background figures staring in uniform directions, which prompted further technical verification. Using OpenAI’s content verification tool, investigators confirmed the presence of a SynthID watermark, definitively marking the file as AI-generated content. The dissemination of this synthetic media distorted the narrative of the genuine protests and led to significant public misinformation. Following the investigation, Hisar Police arrested two individuals in connection with the circulation of the fake image, highlighting the legal and social consequences of spreading synthetic disinformation during periods of civil unrest.