A Fact-Checker’s Warning on AI

December 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

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In the aftermath of the December 14 Bondi Beach attack in Australia, a second crisis unfolded online: targeted disinformation.

From misidentifying an unrelated Sydney local as one of the gunmen who carried out the mass shooting to circulating a forged Ministry of External Affairs diplomatic letter, the internet was rife with false claims. In this edition, we set the record straight —one debunk at a time.

THE WEEKLY DOWNLOAD

BOOM’s fact-checkers spent the week debunking a surge of disinformation surrounding the Bondi Beach terror attack wherein two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish celebration at Bondi in Australia on December 14, 2025, killing at least 15 people. 

Karen Rebelo, Deputy Editor, BOOM tells me that this incident shows how AI exacerbates misinformation. 

“For the past few years, fears about GenAI and its impact on misinformation have been misunderstood or incorrectly framed. Fact-checkers were never worried about AI generated media becoming the primary vector of misinformation. Instead, we were always worried about how it would work as a force multiplier and worsen and amplify existing misinformation,” she adds.

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Two gunmen identified as Sajid Akram (50) and Naveed Akram (24) carried out the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia’s Sydney. Next, social media did what it does best—and worst. 

A set of two photos, one of Naveed Akram at the scene of the shooting, and another photo of a man in a Pakistani cricket jersey went viral on the internet. 

The Misidentification: However, BOOM found that the man seen wearing a Pakistani cricket jersey does not show either of the accused gunmen involved in the Bondi beach attack. We found that the viral photo has been picked up from the Facebook profile of a Pakistani man named Sheikh Naveed Akram, who is currently residing in Sydney, Australia. 

He had also posted a video denying any involvement in the attack and stating his photo in the Pakistani cricket jersey is being misused.

BOOM’s Anmol Alphonso reached out to New South Wales Police regarding the identities of those involved and their country of origin. In response, NSW Police reiterated that only two gunmen were involved in the attack and declined to confirm further details. 

NSW Police had also said in a press statement that the two accused gunmen were a 24-year-old man who remains hospitalised and his 50-year-old father, who was shot dead at the scene.

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Alokita Raichaudhuri, a 21-year-old Master’s student at Jadavpur University in West Bengal’s Kolkata, is demonstrating how artificial intelligence can bridge educational gaps for some of the city's most vulnerable children. 

While feeding stray dogs near a long-term construction site, she encountered a group of children belonging to workers at the construction site with no school to go to. 

When she asked their parents why, they said: “Our construction site keeps changing every few months. Since we don’t have a permanent base, how do we enroll our children in any school?”

Determined to help, Alokita began volunteering her mornings to teach them basic literacy like how to write their name, how to pronounce words, among others. However, she soon faced a challenge: as an English-medium student, she struggled to quickly create effective lesson plans and worksheets in the specific Bengali dialect the children understood.

Next, she integrated AI into her teaching workflow. The LLM models helped her create bilingual worksheets, phonetic guides and structured lesson plans. What began as an experiment in July is now a seamless part of her daily teaching routine.

P.S Alokita is a trained fact-checker and was a part of the second edition of BOOM’s Teen Fact-Checking Network India.

DECODE

Inside The App That Sends Police Live Video The Moment Someone Says “Help”

A small control room tucked behind Delhi’s Daryaganj Police Station has three computers, an 11-member team, and a steady stream of beeping alerts that animate the space. On the walls, posters read “Say Help”, the emergency app now wired into the Central district’s policing system. 

Say Help is a real-time safety platform that lets users trigger distress alerts through a tap or up to five custom voice phrases.

Real-time intervention: One such alert, sent in the intervening night of October 30–31, helped Delhi Police crack a trafficking racket. A woman trapped inside a spa on DBG Road used the app to send an SOS. Intelligence already suggested the premises—Galaxy Spa, near Today Hotel—was being used as a front for organised trafficking. 

But the tool also raises red flags. 

Privacy & misuse concerns: Because the app can run in the background and relies on camera and microphone access once the user taps ‘Activate’, those who are less digitally experienced may unknowingly leave it in a state where it continues listening for voice triggers even when they don’t intend it to. The app can also be invoked during mutual fights or disputes, potentially prompting unnecessary police action or recording bystanders without their consent. Hera Rizwan reports.

EXPLAINED

Will The Bill Replacing MGNREGA End Rural India’s Right To Work?

The Union government’s new Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, seeks to replace the nearly two-decade-old MGNREGA — India’s landmark law that gave rural households a legal right to demand work. 

New vs old: The proposed framework promises more jobs on paper, raising the annual guarantee from 100 to 125 days, but critics warn that it comes with a steep cost: the loss of a legally enforceable right to work and the rise of a centrally controlled, conditional scheme. 

Economist Jean Drèze told BOOM’s Hera Rizwan, “The new Bill effectively provides a work guarantee without any guarantee that the guarantee will come into effect.”

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍  A video claiming to show Firstpost’s Palki Sharma interviewing All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi allegedly stating that the Sydney Bondi Beach shooters are originally from Uttar Pradesh and defending the accused, was altered using AI. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍  Social media posts claiming the government of Philippines has "fired" diplomat Nilesh Kumar Rai at the Indian Embassy in Manila, after news reports revealed one of the two gunmen involved in the Bondi beach terror attack in Australia, travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport, are fake. 🔗 Srijanee Chakraborty ↗️ found the truth.

🔍  A video claiming to show anchor Palki Sharma questioning Jordan’s protocol during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, asking why King Abdullah II did not receive Modi at the airport on his arrival, was altered using artificial intelligence. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: What the hyperproduction of AI slop is doing to science

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

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