As technology evolves globally, fact-checkers and journalists are confronted with the rising challenge posed by tools which purveyors of disinformation use in creating fake videos, images, and audio that depict individuals saying or doing things they never said or did.
You just received a photo on WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter. The image makes you angry, sad or joyful, and the caption encourages you to share it as widely as possible. You're a little cautious, however, because the story seems too good to be true. You are right to be careful. Here are a few tips for verifying images and tracing a photo’s origin on your own.
If you've been brushing up on the FRANCE 24 Observers' verification guide, then you now have the know-how to verify images with a reverse image search or check for edits with some forensic tools. You should also have the basic instincts needed to be wary when scrolling through social media. This guide will show you some more advanced verification techniques that can help you dig a bit deeper into the origins of a post or a page.
CLAIM: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has called on Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. The 31-nation alliance has made no such call. The organization in a statement pointed to comments its secretary general made this week stressing that NATO remains committed to supporting Ukraine and that any decision to negotiate peace would be up to the Eastern European nation.
Fake news is flooding our social media - but you can spot it if you know what to look for.
Not sure if a headline is fake news or not? Here are three tips to check whether a story is fact or fiction.
CLAIM: A video shows Russian leader Vladimir Putin announcing Russia will send "help to Palestine" in the latest Israel-Hamas War.
AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. The video is from 2021 and shows Putin speaking at Russia's Victory Day military parade. He doesn't make any references to the Middle East conflict in the speech, but rather talks about the defeat of Nazism. Russia has so far issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the Israel-Hamas war.
Founded in 2014, StopFake.org's initial goal was "to verify and refute disinformation and propaganda about events in Ukraine being circulated in the media. Eventually the project grew into an information hub where we examine and analyze all aspects of Kremlin propaganda.
We not only look at how propaganda influences Ukraine, we also try to investigate how propaganda impacts on other countries and regions, from the European Union to countries which once made up the Soviet Union."
The fakenews.pl portal is a website dedicated to a subject of fake news.
You will find here a collection of the latest and archival fake news verifications, interesting publications and articles.
"Debunk.org, VsI, is an independent technology think tank and non-governmental organization that researches disinformation and runs educational media literacy campaigns. Debunk.org carries out disinformation analyses in the Baltic countries, Poland, Georgia and Montenegro, as well as in the United States and North Macedonia together with our partners."
A project by Finnish academic Pekka Kallioniemi:
"#vatniksoup is a Twitter thread series (and a hashtag!) where I’ll introduce pro-Russian actors and propagandists from around the world, be they so-called “independent journalists”, politicians, military personnel or just regular grifters looking to get some easy money.
The series also has introductions and deeper insights on how online propaganda and disinformation works and is spread. For example, I’ll talk about troll farms, social media manipulation and Russia’s online information operations."