Fact-check: Did Saudi Crown Prince Salman Advocate for Moderate Islam in a Viral Video?
Claim: A video circulating on Social Media, particularly on WhatsApp shows the moment Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman seemed to be seating on panel discussion in an event whose background banner reads, “Future Investment Initiative,” where the prince was actively advocating for a return to moderate Islam by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
”We only want to go back to what we were, the moderate Islam that’s open to the world, open to all religions. Seventy percent of Saudi’s people are under 30 years old, and quite frankly, we will not waste 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideas,” he said.
Speaking further he stated that, “we will destroy them today. We want to live a normal life, a life that reflects our moderate religion and good customs. We coexist and live with the world, contributing to the development of our country and the world. These are steps we have taken in the past that are clear. I believe that we will eradicate the rest of extremism very soon…”
Many social media users have questioned the video’s authenticity, suggesting it may be AI-generated or manipulated through translation.
Verification:
To verify the authenticity of the video, PRNigeria’s fact-check team employed deepfake detection techniques. These techniques analyzed the Crown Prince’s facial movements and lip synchronization, confirming that the video exhibits natural blinking patterns and matched lip movements, ruling out AI-generated manipulation.
PRNigeria‘s fact-check team further conducted a reverse image search and monitored social media discussions. The findings revealed that the footage originates from October 2017 at an economic conference in Riyadh.
Further probings revealed where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke in Arabic about the futuristic city of NEOM.
The original Arabic subtitle of the video shows with a caption, “Crown Prince says Saudi’s want to return to moderate Islam.”
The Arabic transcript of the original speech reads:
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“وصف ولي العهد السعودي، الأمير محمد بن سلمان، الفرص التي تملكها السعودية بالفرص الاقتصادية “الخيالية”، منوها بعناصر النجاح في مشروع “نيوم” لخلق شيء عظيم داخل السعودية…”
The English translation of the Arabic excerpt indicates that the Crown Prince was discussing Saudi Arabia’s economic opportunities, the role of NEOM as a futuristic city, and the country’s return to “moderate Islam.”
According to PRNigeria‘ fact-check findings, the Crown Prince was quoted as saying that the return to “moderate Islam” is key to his plans for modernizing the Gulf kingdom. He told a panel that 70% of Saudi Arabia’s population is under 30 and that they desire “a life in which our religion translates to tolerance.” The prince also vowed to “eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon.”
Further investigation revealed that the video containing this statement was recirculated with the English translation directly from a live language translator headset.
Additionally, PRNigeria Fact-Check team contacted Mohammed Al-Sahabi, the Press Attaché at the Saudi Embassy in Abuja, who confirmed that the translation accurately reflects the original video from an October 2017 conference.
Conclusion: findings by PRNigeria reveals that the video is not AI-generated; rather, it contains an English translation directly from a live language translator headset of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s speech in October 2017 during an investment forum about the NEOM project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PRNigeria therefore concludes that claims that the Saudi Crown Prince has advocated for moderate Islam is True, however attempts to pose it as a recent statement is Misleading.
By PRNigeria
