PESHAWAR: Ali Akbar, the bureau chief of Dawn News, has approached the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to seek legal action against unknown individuals, who are generating and circulating ‘AI-generated’ content associated with him and using it to malign government officers and politicians.

He said in his application, submitted to NCCIA, that allegations were levelled against a bureaucrat in a video uploaded on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Oct 12, 2026. He said that AI-generated visuals and voice content associated with him were used in the video.

He said that another video was uploaded by the same account on Oct 13 to defame the provincial minister, Meena Khan Afridi, employing similar visuals and voice content associated with him.

He said that being a senior and well-known journalist, those unlawful activities were severely damaging his professional reputation and credibility.

He said that he was also concerned about his personal safety and security.

The journalist asked NCCIA to initiate a thorough investigation into the matter, identify and trace the individual(s) responsible for creating and circulating such content and take strict legal action against them.

Peshawar Press Club has also condemned the alleged creation of fake videos of Ali Akbar through artificial intelligence (AI) and their circulation on social media, demanding a transparent investigation into the incident.

In a joint statement, PPC president M Riaz and general secretary Alamgir Khan said that the use of modern technology like artificial intelligence to create fake videos of a journalist for damaging his credibility or misleading people was condemnable.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2026