This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 10, 2026 - August 16, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images, voices and videos are increasingly being used to spread misinformation online, making scams, hate speech and harassment more convincing and harder to identify. The consequences range from financial losses to racial tensions and harassment.

This makes it increasingly important for users to distinguish genuine material from content that has been generated or altered. A realistic image may depict an event that never happened, while a cloned voice or video can make it appear as though someone said something they did not.

In March 2025, Malaysian police identified five deepfake videos that appeared to show politicians and corporate figures promoting investment schemes purportedly backed by the government, with some promising returns of up to 100 times the amount invested.

In another case, an AI-generated video posted on Facebook used a synthetic character to deliver an inflammatory message about the Rohingya community in Malaysia.

AI has also been used to target individuals. A Singaporean actress and TV host filed a police report after a man generated an image of her in swimwear at a beach, claimed she was his wife and later posted threats against her.

Determining whether something online is true today requires users to verify both the claim and material presented as evidence. This means checking the source and whether an image, voice or video is genuine, altered or AI-generated.

Here are six tools that offer a starting point for checking suspicious content online.

Resemble AI checks audio, images and videos for signs they were created or altered using AI. Users can upload a file or submit a link for analysis.

Its detection system returns an overall verdict and confidence score and, depending on the material, can highlight sections of a recording or frames of a video that prompted the result. It may also identify the AI model used to create the content.

Resemble AI can also analyse live calls on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Webex.

DeepAI’s AI Image Detector allows users to drag an image into the browser or upload one from their device. It then provides an AI likelihood percentage, confidence level and classification.

The detector accepts common formats, including JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC. It analyses visual patterns and inconsistencies rather than relying solely on metadata or visible watermarks.

The tool only checks still images and does not analyse audio or video.

Hive provides free tools for detecting AI-generated or manipulated images, videos and audio. Users can upload a file or submit its online address through Hive Detect.

The tool returns a confidence score indicating how likely the material is to be AI-generated and may identify the model used to create it. In addition, individual sections of recordings can be examined for signs of cloned or synthetic voices.

Hive also offers a free Chrome extension that allows users to right-click an image, video or audio file on a webpage and have it analysed.

The platform also provides detection services for social media platforms and organisations that need to screen large volumes of content.

Sebenarnya.my, operated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, can be used to check Malaysian claims involving government assistance, ministries, public agencies, banks and public services.

When a claim circulates online, the portal publishes the claim alongside a response from the relevant authority. It has, for example, published government clarifications on false offers of free laptops, assistance programmes and links purportedly used to check Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah payments.

The portal also has an Artificial Intelligence Fact-check Assistant, a chatbot that compares users’ questions with information from official and trusted sources before providing a response. It accepts questions in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil through Sebenarnya.my and WhatsApp.

Users can also submit unverified information through the portal’s “Salur Kepada Kami” section.

Google Fact Check Explorer is a search engine for fact checks published by verification organisations around the world.

Its results show the claim investigated, the organisation that checked it, the rating it received and a link to the full fact check. It can also help users find claims that have crossed borders or resurfaced years after they first circulated.

MyCheck Malaysia is a fact-checking platform operated by Bernama. Its reports classify claims as true, false, misleading or requiring caution.

It covers topics including health, government assistance, elections, consumer products and online scams. Recent reports have addressed false claims that government clinics had stopped accepting walk-in patients and that SARA recipients would receive RM300 through Touch ’n Go.

Each report explains the evidence and sources behind its conclusion. Users can also request a fact check through its website or WhatsApp.

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