😱Video of New Zealand PM 'smoking crack'😱
#Real or #fake? Let’s find out. 👇👇👇 1/...
#OSINT 🔎
#Verification 📹
#SpeurJeMee? 🧐 #HowToOSINT
On 1 Oct. someone posts a video on #Twitter.
We see two videos superimposed. According to the caption , we would see the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern twice.
At the top she appears to be talking to #BillGates and at the bottom she appears to be using #crack. 🔞2/.
We also find the same video in various other posts on #Twitter, #YouTube, #Facebook and on the alternative video site #BitChute.
In total, these videos were viewed more than 31,000 times. Let's verify! 3/...
The video states its source: t.me/endilluminati.
On the #Telegram chat app called 'End Iluminati' we search for 'New Zealand'.
We find the same video uploaded over a month and a half earlier, on 13 August 2021. This oldest version was viewed more than 10K. 4/...
People in this group might believe in a #ConspirayTheory: "The #Illuminati are the supposed overlords controlling the world’s affairs, operating secretly as they seek to establish a New World Order."
Those crack-smoking elites! 👿5/...
We examine the origin of the two videos used in this widespread video compilation. We will start with the upper part and then examine the lower part.
The upper party is easy: we google for videos of Bill Gates and Jacinda Ardern🇳🇿. 6/...
The first result appears to be a video uploaded on YouTube by the Gates Foundation. It is a capture of a panel discussion in New York:
Looking from 0:14 (left), the footage appears to match the top video on social media (right).✅ 7/...
Also the sound comes from this panel discussion and is authentic. ✅
What about the crack-smoking video?
We try different reverse image searches, but the quality is too low. No results. 😢 8/...
Therefore, we search on YouTube with the query 'Jacinda Ardern Smoking'.
This brings us to the video 'Jacinda Ardern Smokes Cannabis' uploaded on 9 October 2020 on YouTube on the channel Genuine Fake. The channel says clearly it contains #deepfakes. 9/...
You can watch the video here:
It's not allowed under 🔞10/...
This video is 2:23 and thus longer than the 57-second compilation video. But certain fragments are similar.
Five days later a shorter version (51 seconds) was uploaded to another YouTube channel: New Zealand Green. Here it's not indicated this might be a #fake. 11/...
That channel contains activist videos of demonstrations pro legalisation of cannabis 🟨.
Both YouTube channels appear to be linked. The New Zealand Green channel advertises "my new channel - Genuine Fake" 🟥.
➡️So the video was probably uploaded twice by the same person. 12/..
So one version (left) comes from a channel that makes it clear that it is a #fake: both by the name of the channel and by a caption "Really Fake" on the video 🟥.
The other video (right) does not show anything that at first sight points to a forgery. 13/...
At 0:18 in the Telegram video, we see the woman making a movement with her right hand (yellow frames). We also see this in the video of 'Genuine Fake' at 0:55.
This is not in the video of New Zealand Green.
Why is this important? 14/...
➡️So the video of 'End Illuminati' was based on the video where, at first glance, you are told that it is a #fake.
That is an indication of deliberate #deception. ❌❌15/...
We have a strong indication that this is a #deepfake, but can we prove it ❓❔❓ 16/...
If we upload a screenshot of the video to the #Bing search engine, it suggests that we are seeing New Zealand Labour politician Jacinda Ardern.
There is no evidence that this is a fake. 😕17/...
A local newspaper wrote about the video: "Now, it's clear within a few seconds that this isn't Jacinda Ardern. Firstly, the real Jacinda's nail game is much too strong to use press-ons of that nature. Secondly, it's just obviously not her face." 18/...
odt.co.nz/star-news/star…
Those who have already seen a lot of footage of the New Zealand🇳🇿 PM could thus easily unmask the deepfake, according to Otago Daily Times.
But those less familiar with Ardern could just as easily fall for it, according to many comments.
Local knowledge =🗝️
19/...
From the comments under the video on the YouTube channel Genuine Fake, the person who posted the video online also explicitly admits that it is a deepfake from an 'educational video' on 'joint-rolling'.
All leading to 'fake', but we want #proof!
20/...
🤡The person also admits to liking 'to brew a conspiracy theory'.
Someone responds with the 'recipe' for this: 'three teaspoons of paranoia, two cups of social media and a sprinkle of "new world order"'. 😵💫21/...
Comparing a photo of Jacinda Ardern (left) with the face in the video (right), two conspicuous patches of skin 🟨) are missing from her neck.
Missing details like that could indicate a forgery. ❌22/...
We also load the video into the deepfake detection tool of deepware.ai.
According to that #analysis, we see a #deepfake. ❌
The probability varies from computer model to computer model: from 54% certainty to 99% certainty. 23/...
⚠️BUT, be carful: these scanners can give an indication, but are not yet very reliable. ⚠️
For example, this scanner could not unmask a recent #deepfake of 🇧🇪 celebrity. 👇 24/...
Conclusive #proof that this is a deepfake can only be found by finding the original images, to which the face was subsequently pasted via #AI.
I searched for many hours by reverse image search and other techniques...🔎25/...
By using the crop tool in #Yandex and googling, I was able to identify objects in the video: the T-shirt 🟪, the microphone 🟥 and the rolling tray 🟩.
Unfortunately this info didn’t help me to find the original footage. 😢😢 26/...
But then I opened #Twitter and saw this tweet from my #OSINT-friend Ben Heubl (follow @Techjournalisto!).
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller from @AfpFactual did find the original footage! 🥳🍾🥳
Did he have better tools? Was he more clever?
Accoring to him: "As you know it's most just luck / trial and error." A simple Reverse Image Search in #Yandex did the trick! 28/...
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual The original footage was uploaded to YouTube on May 6, 2019 by a certain Kush Evelia titled '420 ASMR SMOKE SESH HOTBOXING MY BATHROOM | JOINT + JOINT BUBBLER'. 29/...
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual If we compare screenshots of Jacinda Ardern's #deepfake (left) with screenshots of the original images (right), it is clear that the face has been altered.
🥳WE FOUND PROOF🥳 30/...
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual CONCLUSION: The person in the video smoked a #joint through a glass pipe and not #crack. That person is NOT Jacinda Ardern.❌❌❌
Btw, the Ardern admitted to smoking #cannabis in an interview. But as far as is known, there are no images of this. 31/34
nytimes.com/2020/10/01/wor…
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual You can read my ful #FactCheck (in Dutch) via @Knack here: 32/34
knack.be/nieuws/factche…
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual @Knack What have we learned? 👩🏫
1) In reverse image search, you can only enforce #luck through #persistence. 💪
2) Don't rely on #deepfake #detection tools. False positives are possible. 🦾⚔️
3) #Deepfakes pop up: don't trust what you' see. 👀Check! 🧐33/34
@Techjournalisto @tthompsonfuller @AfpFactual @Knack Did you like this 🧵with #OSINT for #FactChecking?
I have more #SpeurJeMee? 🧐#HowToOSINT, underneath this tweet. 👇
And follow me @brechtcastel for upcoming investigations! 34/END
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