{"id":1014,"date":"2018-05-16T17:27:17","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?page_id=1014"},"modified":"2021-11-16T09:05:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T08:05:46","slug":"top-tips-to-factcheck-viral-social-media-videos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/top-tips-to-factcheck-viral-social-media-videos\/","title":{"rendered":"Top tips to fact-check viral social media videos"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an edited version of the article which was originally published<\/a> on FactCheckingDay.com<\/a> for International Fact-Checking Day on April 2 2018.<\/i><\/p>\n

Of all types of misinformation, video is among the hardest to fact-check.<\/p>\n

First, it isn\u2019t easily searchable like text and photos are. You can\u2019t just paste or upload a video on Facebook or Google to see if it\u2019s true or even trending. At best, you would require specialized knowledge of online video checking tools which may or may not help.<\/p>\n

Second, there\u2019s currently no way to see which videos are going viral on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They\u2019re essentially block boxes, and fact-checkers regularly gripe about how it makes their jobs harder. (Although there has been progress<\/a> with fact-checking images on Facebook.)<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the fact that fake videos are getting easier to create and harder to detect<\/a>. So-called \u201cdeepfake\u201d technology draws upon artificial intelligence to alter images<\/a> and even superimpose celebrities\u2019 heads<\/a> on other people\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n

With those challenges in mind, here is a list of tips and tricks for debunking viral fake videos on social media. Unfortunately, fact-checkers still don\u2019t have good ways to verify deepfake videos \u2014 but several agreed it\u2019s too early to tell how big the problem will become.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Be skeptical. Approach all videos you receive on social media with a pinch of salt. Ask yourself what the objective of the video is and what could be the motive for spreading the video.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Think critically. Before dissecting the video itself, see if there\u2019s anything else you can use to debunk or confirm it. Has it been reported in the media? Is there anything in the video that seems obviously doctored? Videos are relatively hard to verify, so try to avoid doing unneeded work.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Look for inflammatory language and basic information, such as the who, what, when, where, why and how. If the former is present while the latter is lacking, there\u2019s a good indicator that the video could be misleading.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If the video uses slurs or demeaning language there’s a good chance that the accompanying text is only telling a partial (or completely fictional) version of the backstory \u2026 What information was shared with the video? I’ve always found videos lacking basic information to be suspect.\u201d \u2013 Dan Evon, content manager at Snopes<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      See if the details of the video change depending on the sharer. If one post claims a video takes place in one country while another say it doesn\u2019t, that should cause some pause. \u201cThe backstories for hoax videos are frequently changed to cater to certain audiences,\u201d Evan said. Additionally, watch the video and read its accompanying text separately to determine whether or not what it claims to depict is plausible.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Use tools like Amnesty International\u2019s YouTube Dataviewer<\/a> or download the InVid browser extension<\/a>. While the former focuses exclusively on YouTube, the latter allows people to paste a link from YouTube, Facebook or Twitter to get more information about its origins, as well as pull out key frames for further inspection.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      It allows you to figure out if the video has been published before, as well as where the video was shot, because the similarity search can recognize some place, some point of interest \u2026 most of the videos that we see are just decontextualized videos \u2014 videos that already exist on the web and are used in another context.\u201d \u2013 Denis Teyssou, editorial manager of the Agence France Presse MediaLab<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        If you\u2019re on mobile, take a screenshot of the video and upload it to a reverse image search service to see if it\u2019s published elsewhere online \u2014 that can give you a better clue as to whether or not it\u2019s true. Google<\/a> and TinEye<\/a> are great tools for this.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      2. \n

        If pulling individual frames from InVid doesn\u2019t work, try slowing the video down using software like VLC<\/a> to see the transitions. With fake videos, it\u2019s relatively easy to tell when a scene is doctored if you watch in slow motion. Alternatively, try using FFmpeg<\/a> to get more detailed key frames, then run a reverse image search.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      3. \n

        Download the video and check out its metadata. While most social media platform strip this information out once someone uploads it, if you have the source material, there might be clues as to the videos origin. Try using your computer\u2019s native file browser or things like Exiftool<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      4. \n

        If the video takes place outside, use geolocation software to check whether it\u2019s actually where it claims to be. Google Earth<\/a> and Wikimapia<\/a>, a user-annotated collection of satellite imagery, are good tools for this.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        We probably use geolocation tools most often. If you know the location, and it\u2019s correct and verified, you\u2019ll probably find more information related to the case \u2026 figure out where it was taken, determine visual cues and match that with satellite imagery.\u201d \u2013 Christiaan Triebert, a digital investigator and trainer at Bellingcat<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          Check the time when the video was filmed. If there are shadows visible, you can determine when the video was shot by checking their directions against a specific time of year using tools like Suncalc<\/a>. That could help you either verify or debunk a video based on its timeframe.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

        2. \n

          If all else fails, try doing a quick search for some keywords related to the video on YouTube. Triebert said that \u2014 especially with videos that draw upon video game footage<\/a> to misinform \u2014 hoaxers will often pull directly from the video sharing platform using the same keywords.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          This is an edited version of the article which was originally published on FactCheckingDay.com for International Fact-Checking Day on April 2 2018. Of all types of misinformation, video is among the hardest to fact-check. First, it isn\u2019t easily searchable like text and photos are. You can\u2019t just paste or upload a video on Facebook or Google to see if it\u2019s true or even trending. At best, you would require specialized knowledge of online video checking tools which may or may not help. Second, there\u2019s currently no way to see which videos are going viral on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They\u2019re essentially block boxes, and fact-checkers regularly gripe about how it makes their jobs harder. (Although there has been progress with fact-checking images on Facebook.) Then there\u2019s the fact that fake videos are getting easier to create and harder to detect. So-called \u201cdeepfake\u201d technology draws upon artificial intelligence to alter images and even superimpose celebrities\u2019 heads on other people\u2019s bodies. With those challenges in mind, here is a list of tips and tricks for debunking viral fake videos on social media. Unfortunately, fact-checkers still don\u2019t have good ways to verify deepfake videos \u2014 but several agreed it\u2019s too early to tell how big the problem will become. Be skeptical. Approach all videos you receive on social media with a pinch of salt. Ask yourself what the objective of the video is and what could be the motive for spreading the video. Think critically. Before dissecting the video itself, see if there\u2019s anything else you can use to debunk or confirm it. Has it been reported in the media? Is there anything in the video that seems obviously doctored? Videos are relatively hard to verify, so try to avoid doing unneeded work. Look for inflammatory language and basic information, such as the who, what, when, where, why and how. If the former is present while the latter is lacking, there\u2019s a good indicator that the video could be misleading. If the video uses slurs or demeaning language there’s a good chance that the accompanying text is only telling a partial (or completely fictional) version of the backstory \u2026 What information was shared with the video? I’ve always found videos lacking basic information to be suspect.\u201d \u2013 Dan Evon, content manager at Snopes See if the details of the video change depending on the sharer. If one post claims a video takes place in one country while another say it doesn\u2019t, that should cause some pause. \u201cThe backstories for hoax videos are frequently changed to cater to certain audiences,\u201d Evan said. Additionally, watch the video and read its accompanying text separately to determine whether or not what it claims to depict is plausible. Use tools like Amnesty International\u2019s YouTube Dataviewer or download the InVid browser extension. While the former focuses exclusively on YouTube, the latter allows people to paste a link from YouTube, Facebook or Twitter to get more information about its origins, as well as pull out key frames for further inspection. It allows you to figure out if the video has been published before, as well as where the video was shot, because the similarity search can recognize some place, some point of interest \u2026 most of the videos that we see are just decontextualized videos \u2014 videos that already exist on the web and are used in another context.\u201d \u2013 Denis Teyssou, editorial manager of the Agence France Presse MediaLab If you\u2019re on mobile, take a screenshot of the video and upload it to a reverse image search service to see if it\u2019s published elsewhere online \u2014 that can give you a better clue as to whether or not it\u2019s true. Google and TinEye are great tools for this. If pulling individual frames from InVid doesn\u2019t work, try slowing the video down using software like VLC to see the transitions. With fake videos, it\u2019s relatively easy to tell when a scene is doctored if you watch in slow motion. Alternatively, try using FFmpeg to get more detailed key frames, then run a reverse image search. Download the video and check out its metadata. While most social media platform strip this information out once someone uploads it, if you have the source material, there might be clues as to the videos origin. Try using your computer\u2019s native file browser or things like Exiftool. If the video takes place outside, use geolocation software to check whether it\u2019s actually where it claims to be. Google Earth and Wikimapia, a user-annotated collection of satellite imagery, are good tools for this. We probably use geolocation tools most often. If you know the location, and it\u2019s correct and verified, you\u2019ll probably find more information related to the case \u2026 figure out where it was taken, determine visual cues and match that with satellite imagery.\u201d \u2013 Christiaan Triebert, a digital investigator and trainer at Bellingcat Check the time when the video was filmed. If there are shadows visible, you can determine when the video was shot by checking their directions against a specific time of year using tools like Suncalc. That could help you either verify or debunk a video based on its timeframe. If all else fails, try doing a quick search for some keywords related to the video on YouTube. Triebert said that \u2014 especially with videos that draw upon video game footage to misinform \u2014 hoaxers will often pull directly from the video sharing platform using the same keywords.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10102,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ppma_author":[865],"class_list":["post-1014","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8R6dE-gm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}