Right now you’re probably seeing hundreds of photos and videos from the chaotic scene on #CapitolHill at the #CapitolBuilding. Or are you?
When protestors began streaming into D.C. yesterday, an unverified Twitter account with less than 1,000 followers shared a photo claiming to show the action that racked up more than 14,000 RTs. It’s false. 
It was ACTUALLY an image from the 2018 #MarchForOurLives protest. Using out-of-context pics is one way bad actors push disinformation out to thousands of social feeds during breaking news events. You could have figured that out right away with a reverse image search.
@mediawise ambassador @hari breaks down this fact-checking tool that you should use when you see a photo shared of the #CapitolBuilding — or any time during a breaking news event. Use it to make sure you aren’t sharing old or out-of-context pics.
But what about video? Another tool we use nonstop to verify video when news breaks is the InVid & WeVerify Chrome plug-in, which will search for where a video may have been posted in the past. Check out this TikTok from our very own @AlexaVolland. tiktok.com/@mediawise/vid…
Speaking of @tiktok, we have a lot of fun on the platform, but it can actually cause misinformation during news events to spread quickly. It’s easy to reshare content on it, and has tons of users, so it’s the perfect recipe for viral disinfo. Don’t fall for it.
It doesn't matter how convincing a photo or video looks during the #capitollockdown, you always need to check it out before sharing. And always remember the three @SHEG_Stanford Q's:
1. Who is behind the information?
2. What is the evidence?
3. What are other sources saying?
1. Who is behind the information?
2. What is the evidence?
3. What are other sources saying?
Expect many more pics and videos to be manipulated in the coming days — so bookmark this thread so you have the tools handy to root out misinformation and disinformation.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
