Claim: A viral video shows international Hollywood actors holding placards that display support for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The video is edited. A deep fake software was used to alter the original video to create the false information. None of the actors’ videos was made for Mr Obi.
Full Text
It began with Idris Elba, a popular British actor laughing with Matthew McConaughey – a 53-year-old American actor – who held a placard. On it was a statement that reads, “Yes, it makes sense. Vote Peter Obi in 2023 🇳🇬.”
For the next 1 minute 53 seconds, the stage was shared between different international actors like Tom Cruise, Doug Liman, Gerard Butler, and 50 Cent. All held the same board with the inscription.
As Nigeria prepares for its Presidential election on February 25, 2023, a video showing popular international movie actors campaigning for Peter Obi – the Labour Party’s flag bearer – naturally ruffles more feathers as it portrays an international endorsement for the party, widely considered a political underdog at the poll.
However, the placard’s texture raises questions. Also, the actors’ words were silenced as only sounds played from the video. It seems glaring that the footage was altered.
But two notable persons shared the video via their verified social media accounts to their large followers with captions that denoted their political allegiance.
Charles Oputa, known as Charly Boy, is racking up more than 247,000 views on Twitter with the video he tweeted on November 21, which also gained more than 14,800 reactions, 7,082 retweets, and 1,222 comments.
The veteran singer wrote, “Impressive. Peter Obi’s campaign has taken on a global outlook with leading American TV and Hollywood actors driving the campaign.”
Mike Asukwo, a veteran cartoonist, also shared the video on his verified Facebook account today with the caption, “I just want to be proud of my country again.” As of press time, the video has gained more than 5,600 views, 171 comments and 515 reactions. 197 accounts have also shared it.
An account with the username, Lu Benson, prayed in pidgin that the dream [Obi’s victory] should come true because Nigerians have endured enough.
He said, “God abeg make this dream a reality. We’ve suffered a lot nah.”
Another account, Awele Ideal, expressed her interest in the video and requested that it be sent to her.
The same video gained trends on Tiktok too.
An account with the handle, @@sheks_bibi, shared the video with the caption, “Peter Obi for President 2023 #peterobi #2023election #vote.”
As of press time, the video has gained 5,489 likes, 383 comments and 1,953 shares.
The comments on the posts showed that people believed the footage to be valid. This made DUBAWA run a fact-check to verify.
The true story
DUBAWA ran a manual check on the video and found a YouTube handle, Eva Luca, who uploaded a replica of the video 3 months ago. The difference is the inscription on the placard. It reads, “Your text, photo or logo here,” meaning it can be edited.
About 39 actors were listed in the video that was uploaded on July 23, which included the previously mentioned.
The footage also showed how users could alter the video collections available.
Attempts to uncover the particular tool used for the video editing were unsuccessful, though there are diverse apps that can be used for the purpose.
Where the videos came from
DUBAWA discovered the videos separately in their original formats through further findings. They were all obtained from a YouTube channel owned by WIRED, an American magazine that “illuminates how technology affects every aspect of life–from culture to business, science to design,” according to the website description.
The channel runs a programme called the Autocomplete Interview, where popular American entertainers are brought to the channel to answer the web’s most searched questions about them displayed on a placard.
For comparison, we obtained screenshots of Terry Crews, a famous American actor and television host, from the three situations available.
Screenshot of Terry Crews on the original WIRED video.
Conclusion
The videos, though shared by verified accounts of prominent persons, were altered to promote a false narrative. The actors in the original videos did not endorse Peter Obi.
