#FactCheck- Old SCO Summit Video Misrepresented as Pakistan-Iran Meeting
Executive Summary
Amid reports of a two-week ceasefire announced on April 8, 2026, between the United States and Iran, and claims that Pakistan is facilitating peace talks between the two nations, a video showing leaders of Pakistan and Iran meeting has gone viral on social media. The video is being shared with the claim that Pakistani leaders received a grand welcome upon arriving in Iran for the April 11, 2026 talks. However, an research by the CyberPeace found the claim to be misleading. The viral video is not recent but dates back to September 2025.
Claim
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video on April 10, 2026, claiming that it shows Pakistani leaders being warmly welcomed in Iran.
Post link:
Fact Check
To verify the claim, we extracted keyframes from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search. This led us to the same video posted on a Facebook account named “Bhurgri Siddique” on September 1, 2025.
According to the available information, the video shows a meeting between a Pakistani delegation and Iranian leaders. Further keyword searches helped us locate a longer version of the same video on the official YouTube channel “HT Videos,” also uploaded on September 1, 2025. The video was from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit 2025 held in China, where leaders from various member countries, including Pakistan and Iran, had met.
Conclusion
The viral claim is misleading. The video does not show any recent meeting or welcome ceremony in Iran linked to the ongoing ceasefire talks. Instead, it is an old clip from September 2025, recorded during the SCO Summit in China. There is no evidence to suggest that the footage is related to current developments between the United States, Iran, and Pakistan. The video has been taken out of context and is being reshared with a false narrative to mislead users.
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Introduction
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all telcos to set up detection systems based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies in order to identify and control spam calls and text messages from unregistered telemarketers (UTMs).
The TRAI Directed telcos
The telecom regulator, TRAI, has directed all Access Providers to detect Unsolicited commercial communication (UCC)by systems, which is based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to detect, identify, and act against senders of Commercial Communication who are not registered in accordance with the provisions of the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018). Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) are entities that do not register with Access Providers and use 10-digit mobile numbers to send commercial communications via SMS or calls.
TRAI steps to curb Unsolicited commercial communication
TRAI has taken several initiatives to reduce Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), which is a major source of annoyance for the public. It has resulted in fewer complaints filed against Registered Telemarketers (RTMs). Despite the TSPs’ efforts, UCC from Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) continues. Sometimes, these UTMs use messages with bogus URLs and phone numbers to trick clients into revealing crucial information, leading to financial loss.
To detect, identify, and prosecute all Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs), the TRAI has mandated that Access Service Providers implement the UCC.
Detect the System with the necessary functionalities within the TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 framework.
Access service providers have implemented such detection systems based on their applicability and practicality. However, because UTMs are constantly creating new strategies for sending unwanted communications, the present UCC detection systems provided by Access Service providers cannot detect such UCC.
TRAI also Directs Telecom Providers to Set Up Digital Platform for Customer Consent to Curb Promotional Calls and Messages.
Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) sometimes use messages with fake URLs and phone numbers to trick customers into revealing essential information, resulting in financial loss.
TRAI has urged businesses like banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, and others to re-verify their SMS content templates with telcos within two weeks. It also directed telecom companies to stop misusing commercial messaging templates within the next 45 days.
The telecom regulator has also instructed operators to limit the number of variables in a content template to three. However, if any business intends to utilise more than three variables in a content template for communicating with their users, this should be permitted only after examining the example message, as well as adequate justifications and justification.
In order to ensure consistency in UCC Detect System implementations, TRAI has directed all Access Providers to deploy UCC and detect systems based on artificial intelligence and Machine Learning that are capable of constantly evolving to deal with new signatures, patterns, and techniques used by UTMs.
Access Providers have also been directed to use the DLT platform to share intelligence with others. Access Providers have also been asked to ensure that such UCC Detect System detects senders that send unsolicited commercial communications in bulk and do not comply with the requirements. All Access Providers are directed to follow the instructions and provide an update on actions done within thirty days.
The move by TRAI is to curb the menacing calls as due to this, the number of scam cases is increasing, and now a new trend of scams started as recently, a Twitter user reported receiving an automated call from +91 96681 9555 with the message “This call is from Delhi Police.” It then asked her to stay in the queue since some of her documents needed to be picked up. Then he said he works as a sub-inspector at the Kirti Nagar police station in New Delhi. He then inquired whether she had recently misplaced her Aadhaar card, PAN card, or ATM card, to which she replied ‘no’. The scammer then poses as a cop and requests that she authenticate the last four digits of her card because they have found a card with her name on it. And a lot of other people tweeted about it.
Conclusion
TRAI directed the telcos to check the calls and messages from Unregistered numbers. This step of TRAI will curb the pesky calls and messages and catch the Frauds who are not registered with the regulation. Sometimes the unregistered sender sends fraudulent links, and through these fraudulent calls and messages, the sender tries to take the personal information of the customers, which results in financial losses.
The global race for Artificial Intelligence is heating up, and India has become one of its most important battlegrounds. Over the past few months, tech giants like OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini), X (Grok), Meta (Llama), and Perplexity AI have stepped up their presence in the country, not by selling their AI tools, but by offering them free or at deep discounts.
At first, it feels like a huge win for India’s digital generation. Students, professionals, and entrepreneurs today can tap into some of the world’s most powerful AI tools without paying a rupee. It feels like a digital revolution unfolding in real time. Yet, beneath this generosity lies a more complicated truth. Experts caution that this wave of “free” AI access isn’t without strings attached. This offering impacts how India handles data privacy, the fairness of competition, and the pace of the development of homegrown AI innovation that the country is focusing on.
The Market Strategy: Free Now, Pay Later
The choice of global AI companies to offer free access in India is a calculated business strategy. With one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital populations, India is a market no tech giant wants to miss. By giving away their AI tools for free, these firms are playing a long game:
- Securing market share early: Flooding the market with free access helps them quickly attract millions of users before Indian startups have a chance to catch up. Recent examples are Perplexity, ChatGPT Go and Gemini AI which are offering free subscriptions to Indian users.
- Gathering local data: Every interaction, every prompt, question, or language pattern, helps these models learn from larger datasets to improve their product offerings in India and the rest of the world. Nothing is free in the world - as the popular saying goes, “if something is free, means you are the product. The same goes for these AI platforms: they monetise user data by analysing chats and their behaviour to refine their model and build paid products. This creates the privacy risk as India currently lacks specific laws to govern how such data is stored, processed or used for AI training.
- Create user dependency: Once users grow accustomed to the quality and convenience of these global models, shifting to Indian alternatives, even when they become paid, will be difficult. This approach mirrors the “freemium” model used in other tech sectors, where users are first attracted through free access and later monetised through subscriptions or premium features, raising ethical concerns.
Impact on Indian Users
For most Indians, the short-term impact of free AI access feels overwhelmingly positive. Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are breaking down barriers by democratising knowledge and making advanced technology available to everyone, from students, professionals, to small businesses. It’s changing how people learn, think and do - all without spending a single rupee.But the long-term picture isn’t quite as simple. Beneath the convenience lies a set of growing concerns:
- Data privacy risks: Many users don’t realise that their chats, prompts, or queries might be stored and used to train global AI models. Without strong data protection laws in action, sensitive Indian data could easily find its way into foreign systems.
- Overdependence on foreign technology: Once these AI tools become part of people’s daily lives, moving away from them gets harder — especially if free access later turns into paid plans or comes with restrictive conditions.
- Language and cultural bias: Most large AI models are still built mainly around English and Western data. Without enough Indian language content and cultural representation, the technology risks overlooking the very diversity that defines India
Impact on India’s AI Ecosystem
India’s Generative AI market, valued at USD $ 1.30 billion in 2024, is projected to reach 5.40 billion by 2033. Yet, this growth story may become uneven if global players dominate early.
Domestic AI startups face multiple hurdles — limited funding, high compute costs, and difficulty in accessing large, diverse datasets. The arrival of free, GPT-4-level models sharpens these challenges by raising user expectations and increasing customer acquisition costs.
As AI analyst Kashyap Kompella notes, “If users can access GPT-4-level quality at zero cost, their incentive to try local models that still need refinement will be low.” This could stifle innovation at home, resulting in a shallow domestic AI ecosystem where India consumes global technology but contributes little to its creation.
CCI’s Intervention: Guarding Fair Competition
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has started taking note of how global AI companies are shaping India’s digital market. In a recent report, it cautioned that AI-driven pricing strategies such as offering free or heavily subsidised access could distort healthy competition and create an uneven playing field for smaller Indian developers.
The CCI’s decision to step in is both timely and necessary. Without proper oversight, such tactics could gradually push homegrown AI startups to the sidelines and allow a few foreign tech giants to gain disproportionate influence over India’s emerging AI economy.
What the Indian Government Should Do
To ensure India’s AI landscape remains competitive, inclusive, and innovation-driven, the government must adopt a balanced strategy that safeguards users while empowering local developers.
1. Promote Fair Competition
The government should mandate transparency in free access offers, including their duration, renewal terms, and data-use policies. Exclusivity deals between foreign AI firms and telecom or device companies must be closely monitored to prevent monopolistic practices.
2. Strengthen Data Protection
Under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, companies should be required to obtain explicit consent from users before using data for model training. Encourage data localisation, ensuring that sensitive Indian data remains stored within India’s borders.
3. Support Domestic AI Innovation
Accelerate the implementation of the IndiaAI Mission to provide public compute infrastructure, open datasets, and research funding to local AI developers like Sarvam AI, an Indian company chosen by the government to build the country's first homegrown large language model (LLM) under IndianAI Mission.
4. Create an Open AI Ecosystem
India should develop national AI benchmarks to evaluate all models, foreign or domestic, on performance, fairness, and linguistic diversity. And at the same time, they have their own national data Centre to train their indigenous AI models.
5. Encourage Responsible Global Collaboration
Speaking at the AI Action Summit 2025, the Prime Minister highlighted that governance should go beyond managing risks and should also promote innovation for the global good. Building on this idea, India should encourage global AI companies to invest meaningfully in the country’s ecosystem through research labs, data centres, and AI education programmes. Such collaborations will ensure that these partnerships not only expand markets but also create value, jobs and knowledge within India.
Conclusion
The surge of free AI access across India represents a defining moment in the nation’s digital journey. On one hand, it’s empowering millions of people and accelerating AI awareness like never before. On the other hand, it poses serious challenges from over-reliance on foreign platforms to potential risks around data privacy and the slow growth of local innovation. India’s real test will be finding the right balance between access and autonomy, allowing global AI leaders to innovate and operate here, but within a framework that protects the interests of Indian users, startups, and data ecosystems. With strong and timely action under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, the IndiaAI Mission, and the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) active oversight, India can make sure this AI revolution isn’t just something that happens to the country, but for it.
References
- https://www.moneycontrol.com/artificial-intelligence/cci-study-flags-steep-barriers-for-indian-ai-startups-calls-for-open-data-and-compute-access-to-level-playing-field-article-13600606.html#
- https://www.imarcgroup.com/india-generative-ai-market
- https://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/39020/Opening_Address_by_Prime_Minister_Shri_Narendra_Modi_at_the_AI_Action_Summit_Paris_February_11_2025
- https://m.economictimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/nasscom-planning-local-benchmarks-for-indic-ai-models/articleshow/124218208.cms
- https://indianexpress.com/article/business/centre-selects-start-up-sarvam-to-build-country-first-homegrown-ai-model-9967243/#
Executive Summary:
A video featuring Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is being widely circulated on social media. In the clip, she is seen attending an online meeting and repeatedly closing her eyes. The video is being shared with claims that it is recent and shows her under the influence of drugs. Some posts also suggest that Prime Minister Netanyahu has died. However, research by the CyberPeace found that the claim is misleading. The video is not recent and has been online since 2020.
Claim:
Social media users are sharing the video claiming that Sara Netanyahu appeared intoxicated following the alleged death of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The clip is also being falsely presented as a recent development. An X user, Christopher Montgomery (@Montgsignals), shared the video with the caption suggesting that Netanyahu may have died and that his wife appeared in a drug-influenced state during a recent court hearing via Zoom.
Fact Check:
To verify the claim, we first examined reports regarding the alleged death of Benjamin Netanyahu. There is no credible evidence supporting this claim. In fact, on March 20, Netanyahu himself addressed the media and dismissed such rumours, confirming that he is alive.
We then analyzed the viral video by extracting keyframes and conducting a reverse search. This led us to the same video posted on a Facebook account under the name Roni Schneider Malia on November 4, 2020. The Hebrew caption associated with the post translates to: “Filmed during a psychological conference on Zoom.”
This confirms that the video is old and unrelated to any recent developments.
Conclusion:
The viral claim is misleading. The video of Sara Netanyahu is not recent but has been available online since 2020. It is being falsely linked to baseless claims about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s death
