Newchecker.in is an independent fact-checking initiative of NC Media Networks Pvt. Ltd. We welcome our readers to send us claims to fact check. If you believe a story or statement deserves a fact check, or an error has been made with a published fact check
Contact Us: [email protected]
Fact Check
Video shows MP Sunil Handunnetti responding to social media trolls about his English language skills.
The video was found to be digitally created.
The recent controversy surrounding Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti’s speech at the World Economic Forum, where his use of English, the language in which the panel discussion was conducted, drew widespread mockery on social media, has attracted significant attention and become a topic of public discussion.
In this context, a 32-second video on TikTok claims to show MP Sunil Handunnetti countering social media trolls. The video shows Handunnetti speaking to the media in Sinhala, saying, “Mr Trump learned English from me. Don’t just blame me for nothing. I’m serious. I’ll show you proof. Who said I can’t speak English? Even I can speak English better than Harini and Anura. Those days, Mahinda learned Tamil from me. The problem is what my day. Did you understand…?”
We began by verifying whether any mainstream media outlets had reported on such a counter speech by MP Sunil Handunnetti to the media, but found nothing relevant.
Upon closer inspection, we noticed several elements in the video that appeared unusual. Sunil Handunnetti’s face had unusually smooth features, unusual teeth alignment, and his facial features changed several times in the video, looking unnatural in many frames. These signs suggested that the video may have been digitally altered.
We then conducted a reverse image search using key frames from the shared video. We found a 35-second video posted on a YouTube channel called “See YT” on July 13, 2025, with a caption in Sinhala: “සුනිල් හඳුන්නෙත්ති ඉංග්රීසි දැනුම”, which translates to “Sunil Handunnetti’s English Knowledge.”
The caption of the YouTube video carried a disclaimer stating, “AI video – this is not Sunil Handunnetti’s real speech.” It also explains that the sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated.
We also found the watermark “@SeeYT” appeared in the TikTok video, which matches the YouTube channel’s name and its watermark on the original content, thus confirming that the viral video is AI generated.
The video claiming to show MP Sunil Handunnetti countering social media trolls about his English language skill is not authentic. It is digitally altered and entirely fictional, as confirmed by the original creator.
Our Sources
YouTube video posted by “See YT” on July 13, 2025.
Altered media
