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Fake viral footage is spreading alongside the real horror in Ukraine. Here are 5 ways to spot it

<p>Amid the alarming images of <a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-invades-ukraine-5-essential-reads-from-experts-177815" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia’s invasion of Ukraine</a> over the past few days, millions of people have also seen <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/24/social-media-platforms-russia-ukraine-disinformation-00011559" target="_blank" rel="noopener">misleading, manipulated or false information</a> about the conflict on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram.</p> <figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=891&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=891&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=891&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=1119&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=1119&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448664/original/file-20220226-31488-1blhz2o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=1119&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Screenshot of fake news TikTok video" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Old footage, rebadged on TikTok as the latest from Ukraine.</span> <span class="attribution">TikTok</span></figcaption></figure> <p>One example is this <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@notimundo/video/7068170668507974918?_t=8Q8LwdZRa8s&amp;_r=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video of military jets posted to TikTok</a>, which is historical footage but captioned as live video of the situation in Ukraine.</p> <p>Visuals, because of their persuasive <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12525-019-00345-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential</a> and attention-grabbing nature, are an especially potent choice for those seeking to mislead. Where creating, editing or sharing inauthentic visual content isn’t satire or art, it is usually <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21670811.2017.1345645?casa_token=t8LANzDiQGUAAAAA:3vZ76fwtwpHt82jeB3mFJXPOpfsks4aRZHhDiCpcNVgJtDFIFcqskhUL796_P609UZm2KVwxeHy8xM4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">politically or economically motivated</a>.</p> <p>Disinformation campaigns aim to distract, confuse, manipulate and sow division, discord, and uncertainty in the community. This is a common strategy for <a href="http://repository.ou.ac.lk/bitstream/handle/94ousl/928/journalism_fake_news_disinformation_print_friendly_0%20(1).pdf?sequence=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highly polarised nations</a> where socioeconomic inequalities, disenfranchisement and propaganda are prevalent.</p> <p>How is this fake content created and spread, what’s being done to debunk it, and how can you ensure you don’t fall for it yourself?</p> <p><strong>What are the most common fakery techniques?</strong></p> <p>Using an existing photo or video and claiming it came from a different time or place is one of the most common forms of misinformation in this context. This requires no special software or technical skills – just a willingness to upload an old video of a missile attack or other arresting image, and describe it as new footage.</p> <p>Another low-tech option is to <a href="https://www.grid.news/story/misinformation/2022/02/23/autopsied-bodies-and-false-flags-how-pro-russian-disinformation-spreads-chaos-in-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stage or pose</a> actions or events and present them as reality. This was the case with destroyed vehicles that Russia claimed were bombed by Ukraine.</p> <p>Using a particular lens or vantage point can also change how the scene looks and can be used to deceive. A tight shot of people, for example, can make it hard to gauge how many were in a crowd, compared with an aerial shot.</p> <p>Taking things further still, Photoshop or equivalent software can be used to add or remove people or objects from a scene, or to crop elements out from a photograph. An example of object addition is the below photograph, which purports to show construction machinery outside a kindergarten in eastern Ukraine. The satirical text accompanying the image jokes about the “calibre of the construction machinery” - the author suggesting that reports of damage to buildings from military ordinance are exaggerated or untrue.</p> <p>Close inspection reveals this image was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-ukraine-alteredmachinery-idUSL1N2UT2W0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digitally altered</a> to include the machinery. This tweet could be seen as an attempt to downplay the extent of damage resulting from a Russian-backed missile attack, and in a wider context to create confusion and doubt as to veracity of other images emerging from the conflict zone.</p> <p><strong>What’s being done about it?</strong></p> <p>European organisations such as <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/02/23/documenting-and-debunking-dubious-footage-from-ukraines-frontlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bellingcat</a> have begun compiling lists of dubious social media claims about the Russia-Ukraine conflict and debunking them where necessary.</p> <p>Journalists and fact-checkers are also working to verify content and <a href="https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1494738571483353092?s=20&amp;t=bndDHkpko9nibN9LjRmaWw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise awareness</a> of known fakes. Large, well-resourced news outlets such as the BBC are also <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/60513452" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling out misinformation</a>.</p> <p>Social media platforms have added new <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/state-affiliated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labels</a> to identify state-run media organisations or provide more <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/03/facebook-newsfeed-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">background information</a> about sources or people in your networks who have also shared a particular story.</p> <p>They have also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/24/social-media-platforms-russia-ukraine-disinformation-00011559" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweaked their algorithms</a> to change what content is amplified and have hired staff to spot and flag misleading content. Platforms are also doing some work behind the scenes to detect and <a href="https://transparency.twitter.com/en/reports/information-operations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly share</a> information on state-linked information operations.</p> <p><strong>What can I do about it?</strong></p> <p>You can attempt to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2020.1832139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact-check images</a> for yourself rather than taking them at face value. An <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck-resources/how-do-you-fact-check-an-image/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> we wrote late last year for the Australian Associated Press explains the fact-checking process at each stage: image creation, editing and distribution.</p> <p>Here are five simple steps you can take:</p> <p><strong>1. Examine the metadata</strong></p> <p>This <a href="https://t.me/nm_dnr/6192" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegram post</a> claims Polish-speaking saboteurs attacked a sewage facility in an attempt to place a tank of chlorine for a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-false-flag-attacks-and-did-russia-stage-any-to-claim-justification-for-invading-ukraine-177879">false flag</a>” attack.</p> <p>But the video’s metadata – the details about how and when the video was created – <a href="https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1495356701717020681?s=20&amp;t=DSIyWgyKfPu2vKvVQLjnOw">show</a> it was filmed days before the alleged date of the incident.</p> <p>To check metadata for yourself, you can download the file and use software such as Adobe Photoshop or Bridge to examine it. Online <a href="http://metapicz.com/#landing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">metadata viewers</a> also exist that allow you to check by using the image’s web link.</p> <p>One hurdle to this approach is that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter often strip the metadata from photos and videos when they are uploaded to their sites. In these cases, you can try requesting the original file or consulting fact-checking websites to see whether they have already verified or debunked the footage in question.</p> <p><strong>2. Consult a fact-checking resource</strong></p> <p>Organisations such as the <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Associated Press</a>, <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/media-and-communication/industry/factlab/debunking-misinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RMIT/ABC</a>, <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agence France-Presse (AFP)</a> and <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/02/23/documenting-and-debunking-dubious-footage-from-ukraines-frontlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bellingcat</a> maintain lists of fact-checks their teams have performed.</p> <p>The AFP has already <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.323W3V8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debunked</a> a video claiming to show an explosion from the current conflict in Ukraine as being from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ammonium-nitrate-the-chemical-that-exploded-in-beirut-143979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 port disaster</a> in Beirut.</p> <p><strong>3. Search more broadly</strong></p> <p>If old content has been recycled and repurposed, you may be able to find the same footage used elsewhere. You can use <a href="https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=EN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Images</a> or <a href="https://tineye.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TinEye</a> to “reverse image search” a picture and see where else it appears online.</p> <p>But be aware that simple edits such as reversing the left-right orientation of an image can fool search engines and make them think the flipped image is new.</p> <p><strong>4. Look for inconsistencies</strong></p> <p>Does the purported time of day match the direction of light you would expect at that time, for example? Do <a href="https://twitter.com/Forrest_Rogers/status/1496254107660738568?s=20&amp;t=KSr6GYxwMhqW719GhZPvlA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watches</a> or clocks visible in the image correspond to the alleged timeline claimed?</p> <p>You can also compare other data points, such as politicians’ schedules or verified sightings, <a href="https://earth.google.com/static/9.157.0.0/app_min.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Earth</a> vision or <a href="https://www.google.com/maps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Maps</a> imagery, to try and triangulate claims and see whether the details are consistent.</p> <p><strong>5. Ask yourself some simple questions</strong></p> <p>Do you know <em>where</em>, <em>when</em> and <em>why</em> the photo or video was made? Do you know <em>who</em> made it, and whether what you’re looking at is the <em>original</em> version?</p> <p>Using online tools such as <a href="https://www.invid-project.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InVID</a> or <a href="https://29a.ch/photo-forensics/#forensic-magnifier" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forensically</a> can potentially help answer some of these questions. Or you might like to refer to this list of <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kRfo1ToexG8dEiMqurXKqzEeXdyHn7Ic/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 questions</a> you can use to “interrogate” social media footage with the right level of healthy scepticism.</p> <p>Ultimately, if you’re in doubt, don’t share or repeat claims that haven’t been published by a reputable source such as an international news organisation. And consider using some of these <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck-resources/how-do-you-know-what-information-sources-to-trust/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">principles</a> when deciding which sources to trust.</p> <p>By doing this, you can help limit the influence of misinformation, and help clarify the true situation in Ukraine.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177921/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/t-j-thomson-503845" target="_blank" rel="noopener">T.J. Thomson</a>, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication &amp; Media, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-angus-12403" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Angus</a>, Professor of Digital Communication, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paula-dootson-129022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paula Dootson</a>, Senior Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/fake-viral-footage-is-spreading-alongside-the-real-horror-in-ukraine-here-are-5-ways-to-spot-it-177921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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In Defence of the Fifth Estate: Just Who Is Propagating Disinformation?

<p>The term fake news was popularised by now defunct US president Donald Trump in the days after he took office in early 2017.</p> <p>The notorious billionaire used it to describe the way in which the press reported on him, while others used it to describe disinformation circulating on the internet during the 2016 campaign that led to his election.</p> <p>The great irony is that while Trump repeated “fake news” to such an extent that it became everyday parlance, he was sitting in the most reputable seat in the US spitting out disinformation on a daily basis, which was especially damaging when it came to his pandemic denialism.</p> <p>Along with fake news, the terms misinformation and disinformation get bandied about a lot, often as though they’re interchangeable. However, misinformation usually means false information, whereas disinformation is false information with an intent to deceive, such as propaganda.</p> <p>The charge of spreading fake news is usually laid at the feet of the Fifth Estate: the growing body of bloggers and journalists publishing on websites and social media. This is distinct from the Fourth Estate, which is a term used to refer to the traditional mainstream media.</p> <p>Following on from this assertion about fake news, establishment figures – conservative politicians and the press – have been attempting to rein in the Fifth Estate. Yet, more often than not, this is due to these nontraditional new sources exposing the holes in their previously unchallenged agendas.</p> <p><strong>Rupert champions diversity</strong></p> <p>The dominance of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp in the Australian media landscape goes back decades. These days, it controls 59 percent of national and metropolitan print media, and it’s a top player as far as radio and television goes as well.</p> <p>“The predominance of News Corp in cross-media settings is unprecedented in liberal democracies,” stated GetUp in April this year.</p> <p>In its 2018 submission to the ACCC’s digital platform inquiry, News Corp slammed Facebook and Google for spreading fake news to generate profit, as well as damaging trust in publishers due to their “rapid spread of misinformation” and causing a reduction in media diversity and original content.</p> <p>However, more to the point would be that the Murdoch Empire with its near monopoly on news, is accusing these digital platforms with the very crimes of which it’s culpable of, in an effort to discredit these tech companies as they’re eroding its dominance and impacting its profits.</p> <p>Indeed, the ACCC digital platform inquiry led the Morrison government to draft laws that – since passed last February – require these social media companies to pay News Corp and other traditional outlets a fee for hosting their content.</p> <p>So, after discrediting these online platforms as lawless zones where anything goes, News Corp was quite happy to be the first local mainstream media outlet to strike a deal with Facebook, so the tech company now pays for the use of its content, following Morrison having paved the road with gold.</p> <p><strong>Making it up as you go along</strong></p> <p>Distrust in the Murdoch media is rampant in this country, and that’s due to a growing understanding that it is – and long has been – a purveyor of disinformation.</p> <p>Greenpeace’s Burnt Country report outlines that during the 2019/20 bushfire season that saw 20 percent of mainland forest perish, News Corp was making a concerted effort to downplay the obvious connection that the unprecedented crisis had to the heating of the planet.</p> <p>Report researchers found that News Corp published 75 percent of all articles denying climate change having anything to do with the bushfires, whilst the media outlet only published 46 percent of all articles dealing with the fires and climate over that period.</p> <p>The Greenpeace report further found that News Corp attempted to place the blame for the fires upon a lack of backburning and arson, despite any evidence of this. And this led to one of the biggest social media disinformation campaigns of recent times, that being #ArsonEmergency.</p> <p>News Corp also runs Sky News, which was just suspended from posting its news content on YouTube for a week, as the digital platform found the television broadcaster was spreading disinformation about the current COVID pandemic, including advocating unapproved treatments for the virus.</p> <p><strong>Which evil one?</strong></p> <p>Scott Morrison, though, takes his dislike of the Fifth Estate to another level. The PM asserted during a speech to a Pentecostal congregation in April that social media is “a very evil thing”. He said online platforms can be used by the “Evil One” and “spiritual weapons” must be used against them.</p> <p>However, distorting the truth for political gain is par for the course with Morrison. Just this week, he told the nation that due to the new IPCC report outlining that the planet is on the brink of a climate catastrophe, he suggests facilitating the expansion of the fossil fuel industry globally.</p> <p>Well known to be in bed with this industry, the PM suggests we should enhance fossil fuel use – the reason for the climate crisis – as then we can develop technologies to get us out of this predicament.</p> <p>Yet, renewable energy technologies already exist, and Morrison refuses to invest in them, although he’s happy for Singapore go green on Australian soil, as it moves to build the largest solar energy farm on the planet in the Northern Territory.</p> <p>To have the head of state blatantly spreading disinformation, not only leads to some citizens walking around with distorted ideas, but it further spreads distrust amongst those who see through his lies, which isn’t helpful when the government is asking people to buckle down for a pandemic.</p> <p><strong>Changing of the guard</strong><strong> </strong></p> <p>Just prior to the invention of the internet, Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky warned that disinformation had long been used by government and the mass media to shape public opinion in their landmark work Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.</p> <p>The main issue the mainstream media and government have in relation to the Fifth Estate is that it permits a diverse range of voices to express points of view that are often silenced by the establishment in order to suppress the truth and advance their own agenda.</p> <p>A point in case is the recent assault upon Gaza by the Israeli government, as while there were widespread complaints about how the mainstream media presented a pro-Israeli version of events, the Palestinian side was well represented via emerging online news sources.</p> <p>And another indication that the spread of fake news is not the real issue is when digital platforms have moved to shut down pages on their sites over mounting pressure from the campaign against disinformation, what has often occurred is reputable sources were actually targeted for takedown.</p> <p>The ongoing campaign against the Fifth Estate is predicated on the idea that these independent media organisations can’t be trusted as they’re just being run by regular people.</p> <p>Yet, Rupert was just a regular guy who took over his father’s newspaper company, and he’s a lot less credible a source than many of the new editors and journalists operating within the Fifth Estate.</p> <p><em>Written by Paul Gregoire. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/in-defence-of-the-fifth-estate-just-who-is-propagating-disinformation/" target="_blank">Sydney Criminal Lawyers. </a></em></p>

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Pauline Hanson called out for spreading "dangerous disinformation"

<p>Pauline Hanson has been slammed for spreading "dangerous disinformation" after revealing she will not be receiving the COVID-19 jab and questioning Australia's official death toll.</p> <p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison was part of the first group to be immunised in Australia, and has been followed by a range of public officials vaccinated publicly to boost confidence in the jab.</p> <p>But the One Nation senator said she will not get immunised against COVID-19, revealing she had never received a flu jab and had no plans to do so.</p> <p>“It’s my choice whether I want to have it. Don’t you be concerned; if you have your vaccine, you’re protected, you’re fine,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.</p> <p>Labor health spokesman Mark Butler accused Hanson of undermining confidence in the vaccine.</p> <p>“Just like Craig Kelly before her, Pauline Hanson is undermining the crucial advertising campaign for the vaccine rollout. There is no place for this dangerous disinformation,” he said.</p> <p>“Scott Morrison must stand up against Pauline Hanson’s dangerous and wrong health advice.”</p> <p>Australian Medical Association vice-president Chris Moy said given Ms Hanson’s following, her comments were “not leadership, they’re irresponsible”.</p> <p>“I think leadership which fails us by supporting conspiracy theories is not leadership,” he told NCA NewsWire.</p> <p>“The vaccines have been fully tested for safety and effectiveness by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Australia has even had the extra benefit of being able to observe what’s happened overseas.”</p> <p>But Dr Moy also rejected Ms Hanson’s claim authorities had inflated the official death toll by listing people who died “with COVID, not from it”.</p> <p>“The recording of COVID-19 is no different to any other disease. A doctor would only list it as the underlying cause of death, or contributing cause, if they genuinely believed that,” he said.</p> <p>Ms Hanson had attempted to throw doubt on official numbers, saying anyone who died while COVID-positive was considered to have died from the disease.</p> <p>“If a person died in a car accident and they tested positive for COVID, that was a COVID death. That is wrong, that is deceiving the people,” she claimed.</p>

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