NSA Ajit Doval denies ISIS recruitment claim as deepfake, but fact-checkers prove 2014 video authentic. News18 report debunked.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval issued a denial after a video circulated showing him stating that ISI recruited more Hindus than Muslims for intelligence tasks in India. Doval told CNN-News18 he never made such statements and claimed the video was deepfake manipulation designed to distort national security discourse. News18 published this denial under the headline warning of AI-driven misinformation threats. However, fact-checking organization BOOM found the video is authentic, dating from March 2014, predating modern deepfake technology.
BOOM traced the footage to a YouTube video uploaded March 20, 2014, from an Australia India Institute event titled “The Challenge of Global Terrorism.” The Deepfakes Analysis Unit analyzed the audio and video using Hive AI, ElevenLabs, and Aurigin AI tools, all confirming the clip is genuine with no signs of manipulation. Crucially, News18 erroneously wrote “ISIS” instead of “ISI” throughout their article. The full context shows Doval was actually praising Indian Muslim patriotism, stating that among 4,000 Official Secrets Act cases since 1947, less than 20 percent involved Muslims.
Doval concluded that statement by saying “We will carry the Muslims with us and we will make it a great country.” The viral clip was selectively edited, removing context where he defended Muslim patriotism and pushed back against stereotypes. This represents either catastrophic journalistic failure by News18 or deliberate misinformation. When authentic statements are labeled deepfakes and context is stripped, truth becomes casualty.
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