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.
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.
Social media users are claiming a video shows the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shaking his body in a tight, sparkly one-piece outfit. This is false; the footage is of a performance given by an Argentine belly dancer and instructor and it appears to have been doctored to superimpose Zelensky's face.
Two photos have been shared in social media posts alongside false claims that they show the aftermath of British cargo ships bombed by the Russian air force in a port in Odesa in southern Ukraine on July 16, 2023. However, the photos were in fact taken in Libya and Indonesia respectively and predate Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A photo of a burning building is being shared on Twitter alongside claims it shows a fire at a factory supplying aircraft engines to Russia's military amid its war in Ukraine. This is false; the image first appeared in 2018 and shows an oil refinery that caught fire, according to reports from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Moscow and news articles from the time.
"Victims" of Russia's war in Ukraine who mysteriously move while being filmed? That's according to a recent post on TikTok. It's not true, but how do you prove it?
Soldiers fighting... missiles destroying tanks... war scenes in full splendor. Footage from video games is so realistic that it is often used to portray real-life war scenes.
For France's Press and Media in Schools Week 2023, France 24's Observers team, specialised in debunking misinformation, has produced a new annual edition of "Truth or Fake", a short programme giving tips on how to disentangle fact from fiction.
Apps like DALL-E and Midjourney are making it easier and easier to create realistic-looking images using artificial intelligence. In this video, Derek Thomson shares four tips on how to detect them, but warns that the technology is improving fast.
On the heels of Volodymyr Zelensky's December 21, 2022 trip to Washington, social media users are claiming an image shows US President Joe Biden placing his hand on the Ukrainian leader's buttocks. But the picture has been digitally manipulated; the original photo and other shots from the visit show Biden's hand on Zelensky's back, and a White House spokesperson confirmed the version circulating online is "doctored."
