Sensity, a tool designed to detect AI manipulation, flagged the video as "suspicious" with a 99.9% confidence level
Claim: Cardiologist and online health personality Dr. Willie Ong endorses a new cure for hypertension.
Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim has gained 277,000 views, 570 reactions, 47 comments, and 36 shares as of writing.
In the video, ABS-CBN anchor Alvin Elchico is shown seemingly talking about a purported breakthrough cure for hypertension developed by Ong and other prominent global physicians. The alleged report states that even renowned boxer Manny Pacquiao has tried this natural remedy based on Ong’s recommendation.
This is followed by a clip of Ong seemingly affirming the effectiveness of the medicine. Additionally, he purportedly accuses “corrupt” cardiologists of prescribing “useless drugs that only hide symptoms and do not treat the causes of the disease.”
The facts: The video featuring Ong and Elchico is manipulated using AI. Sensity, a tool designed to detect AI manipulation, flagged the video as “suspicious” with a 99.9% confidence level.
“High confidence indicates that the detector has found definite signals of AI generation or manipulation. Minimum confidence for this detector is 50%,” Sensity noted.
Founded in 2018, the Netherlands-based company specializes in detecting “deepfakes and other forms of malicious visual media.”
A closer look at the altered video also shows that the mouth movements of Ong and Elchico appear unnatural.
The original footage of Ong is from a 2018 video on his official YouTube channel, where he provides advice on managing various conditions like hypertension and diabetes.
In an ABS-CBN News article, both the news outlet and Elchico confirmed that the video was fake.
Previous false claims: Ong has repeatedly denied endorsing various health products attributed to him. Rappler has fact-checked similar claims of products using Ong in false advertisements:
Several false claims used AI tools to imply endorsement by Ong and other known public personalities. According to human rights advocacy group Freedom House, disinformation peddlers are increasingly using AI-generated images, audio, and text, “making the truth easier to distort and harder to discern.” – James Patrick Cruz/Rappler.com
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