AI manipulated images of Malaysian minister used to promote unauthorised joint cream
- Published on October 21, 2025 at 04:44
- Updated on October 21, 2025 at 04:45
- 2 min read
- By Najmi Mamat, AFP Malaysia
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Photos of Malaysia's health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and a former government official have been manipulated with AI and shared in social media posts advertising an unauthorised joint cream -- which has not been registered with the country's regulatory agency for pharmaceuticals. A ministry spokesperson and the official told AFP that their images have been doctored.
"Alhamdulillah! Thank you, Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad. My knee pain is almost gone," reads a lengthy Malay-language Facebook post on October 10, 2025.
It was posted on an account created the same day under the name "Hj. Roslan Mohamad", a former official with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The post claims Malaysia's health minister had suggested a product called Bee Venom Joint Cream to the account owner to help relieve knee and joint pain.
It goes on to claim the cream is used by athletes recovering from serious injuries and that the official's knee pain is almost entirely gone.
Attached to the post are several images, including two images of the official with Dzulkefly at various events apparently holding the product.
A link in the post leads to a website where the gel can be bought for 55 ringgit ($13.02) a jar.
The same account shared similar images in another post, while others spread manipulated images of other former government officials, as well as celebrities, all promoting the same joint cream.
However, both the minister of health and Roslan Mohamad told AFP their photos had been doctored and reports have been lodged with MCMC.
Additionally, there is no record of a "Bee Venom Joint Cream" in Malaysia's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency database, indicating it has not been approved by Malaysian health authorities (archived link).
A reverse image and a subsequent keyword search on Google found the unaltered photos on Roslan Mohamad's actual Facebook page, posted separately on September 9, July 27, and June 25 (archived here, here and here).
The posts do not mention the product endorsed by the health minister.
A separate Google reverse image search found the images were labelled "Made with Google AI" in its "About this image" feature.
The ability to detect AI-generated images is based on Google's SynthID technology, which was launched by its DeepMind AI lab in 2023 (archived here and here).
A star icon on the bottom right of the circulating images also indicates it was generated using Google's AI assistant Gemini (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false claims shared by accounts impersonating and misusing the names of Malaysian ministries and government departments here and here.
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