Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna AI image incident — Sep 2026

Following the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) “Jana Satana” rally held at the Anuradhapura Municipal Council grounds on September 12, 2026, a series of false and misleading images circulated across social media. These posts attempted to inflate the event's attendance and portray party figures in compromising situations, despite official live footage and media reports contradicting the claims.

What happened

The disinformation campaign utilized two primary methods to deceive the public: the repurposing of unrelated international footage and the creation of synthetic imagery. One viral photograph claiming to show a record-breaking crowd at the rally was identified as an image from a 2025 National Citizen Party launch rally on Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was confirmed via international news reports and stock photography databases.

In addition to the repurposed photo, several other images presented as scenes from the Anuradhapura event were found to be AI-generated. These images exhibited clear technical inconsistencies, such as crowds appearing behind the stage, identical figures repeated within the same frame, and spelling errors on background signage. Further scrutiny revealed that a photo depicting SLPP politicians and a Buddhist monk at a table of liquor was also synthetic. This image showed telltale signs of AI generation, including distorted hands and fingers, as well as lighting and reflections that failed to match the ambient environment. AI-content detection tools subsequently confirmed that these images were artificially created. Official drone footage and media broadcasts from the actual event verified that none of these scenes occurred, exposing the viral content as a coordinated effort to mislead the public regarding the rally's nature and attendance.