An AI-altered Facebook image falsely showed Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar at a Thileepan memorial before the September 26 anniversary. The original-photo editor said he was absent; Google's verifier reported an invisible SynthID watermark.
Local outlets Veerakesiri and Tamil Guardian published the original photos on September 15. Tamil Guardian editor Thusiyan Nandakumar told AFP they show Jaffna Municipal Council members, led by the mayor, lighting lamps for Thileepan before their monthly meeting. Reports said commemorations were held across Tamil-majority areas, with events continuing until September 26.
Parts of Sri Lanka held the memorials despite a government ban on public events celebrating the LTTE; authorities have prevented past events. Tamils say the memorials remember all victims of the decades-long war.
