#dcblackout is trending in the US. 447,000 tweets with the hashtag sent in just several hours. They claim communications in or out of DC were shut down to control the protests. But there doesn't seem to be any evidence suggesting a blackout occured. So what actually happened?
Here's the tweet from the internet monitoring service Net Blocks confirming there was no indication of a mass-scale shutdown in Washington DC last night. So are the viral claims on social media completely made up? Let's take a closer look
This seems to be first account that tweeted the hashtag, at around 23:00 DC time. He/she then asked @Cernovich about it and did not make any other references to the alleged blackout. If anyone has any other evidence of the first use of the phrase or hashtag, please DM me
This is the second tweet, which doesn't particularly do well. But then it wass shortly followed up by another one. That tweet seems to have started to catch people's attention. Over the next hour, several other accounts tweeted the hashtag but it did not really pick up
This is the first moderately big tweet of the night. The user says she's based in Pennsylvania so unless she was travelling, she probably just saw the rumours on social media and tweeted about it
By early morning DC time, it's pandemonium. The rumour's spreading like wildfire. Here's the biggest tweet of the night. 26k RTs, 65k likes. Many people saw the tweet, but didn't see the follow up where she says she in "not even from America". She now acknowledges it was "a lie"
Here are a selection of a few more big tweets from last night. I've looked into all of these accounts. There is no evidence suggesting any of them is based in DC. Again, seems to be a case of people seeing the rumour in their feeds and tweeting about it
CORRECTION: That first tweet was actually posted around 02:00 DC time. So much later. Folks based in the states, do the protests continue until that late? I'm eager to know. DM me please!
My wonderful colleague (who everyone interested in disinfo should follow) @O_Rob1nson found this post on a Facebook group with 46,000 followers. Earliest mention on Facebook. In fact, about 30 mins before the first tweet. It's now either been deleted or removed by Facebook
Here's a look at the geographical spread of the hashtag in the US. As expected, most of the tweets came from Washington DC and the states surrounding it. I see no evidence of suspicious activity at all. Just a rumour that seems to have gone viral
Also confirmed here when you zoom into states/regions with the highest share of tweets and also the key phrases used in the them. People in DC see the hashtag going viral, get curious and tweet to find out what's going on. Again, if you're in DC, please DM me to confirm
And here's a brief post summing up the story behind the rumour and the hashtag on the @BBCNews live page about #GeorgeFloyd protests, written by @O_Rob1nson and me
Interesting statement from Twitter. They've suspended some spam accounts amplifying #DCBlockout
Read our piece and analysis of the hashtag please. A classic case of an emotional rumour going viral during a major developing event bbc.co.uk/news/technolog…
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THREAD: There have been questions about this video published by Iranian media today, which shows a deadly Israeli strikes on Tehran's Tajrish district on 15 June, with claims that the video is AI-generated and fake.
But the video is real and can be corroborated. Here's why.
First of all, the version that first went viral was very low-res and grainy, and that was the reason for some inconsistencies that could be seen in the footage.
The higher-resolution version, published later, looks more authentic.
But how can we confirm the strike happened?
Multiple videos were published by Iranian social media users on 15 June showing the aftermath of the strike.
The first strike targeted this building (35.805264, 51.435845) on Bahonar Street, just 100 metres from the second impact.
THREAD: New high-res satellite images released by Maxar Technologies on 24 June show new signs of damage at the Fordo nuclear site following an attack by Israel a day after the US bombed the facility.
New craters are visible at tunnel openings and buildings have been destroyed.
At Iran's Natanz enrichment facility, two craters right above the undergound buildings housing centrifuges that were visible after US strikes on 22 June have now been covered with dirt.
Before: 22 June
After: 24 June
📷@Maxar
@Maxar New Maxar Technologies satellite images show previously unseen damage to tunnel entrances at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre caused by US strikes on 22 June.
The claim in this viral tweet that US Marines have arrested the chief master sergeant of the California National Guard for opposing President Trump's orders is baseless and false.
RealRawNews is a notorious fake news website.
This video has racked up millions of views and been shared by Texas Senator Ted Cruz and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
While there's very real footage of LA protesters setting multiple vehicles on fire on Sunday, this particular video is from the George Floyd protests in 2020.
As is often the case with major developing events, expect a surge in fake news posted by users looking to farm engagement and clout.
There are currently no reports indicating that the Mexican government is considering a military intervention over the LA protests.
A LinkedIn profile in Rodriguez's name suggests he’s based in Chicago and has been working at the American Osteopathic Information Association since 2024.
The profile photo bears a resemblance to the suspect arrested at the scene.
Prior to that, Rodriguez appeared to work as a researcher at HistoryMakers, a research and educational institution based in Chicago that aims to preserve the African-American historical record.
This matches his staff information page on the HistoryMakers website.
Two online pages, one by the People's Congress of Resisatnce and the other by the newspaper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, featuring Rodriguez's name in relation to a 2017 protest in Chicago over the killing of Laquan McDonald are no longer accessible.
THREAD: As India launches strikes against Pakistan tonight, misinformation is rapidly spreading online. I'll fact-check viral falsehoods in this thread.
This video, viewed over 160,000 times, shows Israeli air strikes on Gaza in October 2023. It's unrelated to tonight's strikes.
Be wary of online accounts using tonight's events for engagement farming by posting unrelated yet dramatic images and videos and falsely linking them to Indian strikes.
This video shows the Beirut explosion in 2020. It's unrelated to tensions between India and Pakistan.
This image, viewed over 150,000 times, faslely claims to show an Indian fighter jet shot down by Pakistani air defence.
The image is in fact taken from footage of an Indian MiG-29 fighter jet crashing in Barmer, Rajasthan, due to a technical fault in September 2024.
While Elon Musk recommends sending around X posts so people can "learn the truth", here's a thread of viral misinformation on X about Hurricane Milton.
Alex Jones baselessly claims hurricanes Milton and Helene were deliberately started by the US government as "weather weapons".
This post by one of X's most prominent conspiracy theorists, viewed 4.8 million times, suggests without any evidence that Hurricane Milton is a result of geo-engineering.
Conspiracy theorist Stew Peters claims Hurricane Milton was pre-planned to directly hit Tampa Bay, in a post viewed 4 million times.
Obviously, Hurricane Milton is not pre-planned. No-one can plan to create hurricanes.