Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
Oct 7, 2023 12 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Thread: Online misinformation is rampant following the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas today.

This video of a tower block in Gaza being hit by a missile is from May 2021, not today. It was captured live during a BBC Arabic broadcast at the time.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kJFIKER1k8&ab_channel=BBCNews
This video of a house in Gaza being destroyed by a strike is genuine, but it's actually from May of this year, and not from the fresh escalation in hostilities today.
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https://twitter.com/PalinfoAr/status/1657408682831822850
This video of a house being struck by Israel is also from May of this year, not today.

It was filmed in Beit Hanoun, Gaza; as geolocated by @ChrisOsieck at the time.
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This video, shared by right-wing influencers Charlie Kirk and Ian Miles Cheong and viewed millions of times, actually shows Israeli police and special forces outside a house, as is easily identifiable by their uniforms, not Hamas militants.


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This is another video of a house in Gaza being targeted by an IDF strike in May of this year. It's not from today.
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This video ceratinly doesn't show Hamas shooting down two Israeli helicopters, because it's actually from the video game Arma 3. Image
This is complete and utter nonsense, shared for nothing but engagement. Israel hasn't authorised a nuclear strike on Gaza, and the footage shows a US nuclear test from the 1950s. Image
This video, viewed 230,000 times, is not footage of a Hamas militant shooting down an Israeli helicopter. It's from the video game Arma 3.
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This video, viewed more than 3 million times, does not show a building in Israel.

It shows an Israeli strike on Gaza's Palestine Tower, which houses Hamas radio stations on the rooftop and also holds a cinema, earlier today.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-middle-east-67041495
A fake document is being widely shared online claiming to show the authorisation of $8bn in military aid to Israel by President Biden.

It's a doctored version of a 25 July document detailing $400m in aid to Ukraine authorised by President Biden; fact-checked by @Info_Rosalie.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/07/25/memorandum-on-the-delegation-of-authority-under-section-506a1-of-the-foreign-assistance-act-of-1961-16/
This is a fake Jerusalem Post account falsely reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been taken to hospital, and somehow racking up over 600,000 views.

The post has now got a Community Note attached to it. Image
If you've come across reports that the Taliban has asked Iran and Iraq for permission to send fighters to Israel, the source for those reports is this viral tweet by what most likely is a fake Taliban PR account with a bluck tick.

I particularly like that hand-drawn arrow. Image

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More from @Shayan86

Oct 9
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". Image
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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. Image
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. Image
Read 7 tweets
Oct 8
A Russia-based disinformation network run by a former Florida cop has published a new fabricated story on a fake news website called "Seattle Tribune".

It baselessly claims Ukrainain President Zelensky has secretly purchased a Mercedes 770 used by Hitler. It's nonsense. Image
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The story refers to this doctored picture of a Mercedes 770 near the presidential office in Kyiv, posted on Telegram.

But that Telegram channel has never posted the pic, and the Mercedes in it has been lifted from the image on the right. Note the same reflections on both cars. Image
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/773422935993386135/
As is often the case with the network of fake news websites posing as local news outlets run by Moscow-based John Mark Dougan, the "Seattle Tribune" website was set up only five days ago, specifically to post this fake story.

There's no record of such a news outlet in Seattle. https://whois.domaintools.com/seattle-tribune.com
Read 5 tweets
Sep 3
Thread: A viral story claims Kamala Harris was involved in a 2011 hit-and-run that left a 13-year-old named Alicia Brown paralyzed.

But the story is fake, and is most likely part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation operation run by an ex-Florida cop we've previously reported on.



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The source of the story is an obscure website called KBSF-San Francisco News. The domain was set up on 20 August.

The website has all the hallmarks of a network of AI-powered fake news websites set up by Moscow-based former Florida cop John Mark Dougan.
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The top image of the massive story, which is supposed to show the crash caused by Harris in San Francisco in 2011, was actually taken in Guam.

A simple reverse search shows the image was originally posted in a news story about a January 2018 crash in Mangilao, Guam.
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https://eu.freep.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/01/17/auto-pedestrian-crash-sends-man-81-to-hospital/109533530/
Read 7 tweets
Jul 30
Immediately after the Southport attack, baseless rumours began spreading online.

The main source of rumours has been a report by an obscure US "news" website that falsely claims the suspect is an "asylum seeker" named "Ali Al-Shakati", who "arrived in the UK by boat last year". Image
Merseyside Police has confirmed that the suspect was born in Cardiff, and has yet to identify the 17-year-old.

The report also adds that the suspect was "on MI6 watch list", despite the fact that it is MI5, not MI6, that deals with domestic counter-terrorism cases.
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https://www.merseyside.police.uk/news/merseyside/news/2024/july/statement-from-chief-constable-serena-kennedy-following-major-incident-in-southport/
The name "Ali Al-Shakati" has since been widely shared online in misleading posts viewed by millions.

Some other outlets, including Russia's RT news channel, have also reported this name, citing the US-based website.
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Read 4 tweets
Jun 28
THREAD: Fact-checking the Trump-Biden CNN debate

Trump said that Biden "inherited no inflation" when he came into office.

Inflation stood at 1.4% in January 2021. It rose significantly during Biden's presidency, hitting a peak of 9.1% in 2022. It was 3.3% in May. Image
Biden claimed he's the only president in the last decade who doesn’t have "any troops dying anywhere in the world".

Three US troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan in January.

During the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, 13 US troops were killed in a suicide attack.
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On abortion, Trump claimed that Biden wants to kill babies "in the ninth month and even after birth".

Killing a newborn is illegal in every US state.

Less than 1% of US abortions happen after 28 weeks, according to @CDCgov data. 93.5% of abortions happen before 13 weeks. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductive-health/data-statistics/abortion-surveillance-findings-reports.html#:~:text=Nearly%20all%20abortions%20in%202021,at%20%E2%89%A521%20weeks'%20gestation.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 26
Thread: Baltimore Bridge collapse misinformation

Pro-Kremlin influencers claim the captain of the Dali ship is a Ukrainian.

But online records show a Ukrainian man was the Dali's captain from March to July 2016. The ship that hit the bridge reportedly had an all-Indian crew.


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https://www.balticshipping.com/vessel/imo/9697428/seafarers
https://www.balticshipping.com/vessel/imo/9697428/seafarers
https://www.balticshipping.com/vessel/imo/9697428/seafarers
Claims by influencers such as Alex Jones and Andrew Tate that the Baltimore Bridge collapsed due to a "cyber-attack" have been viewed millions of times.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has said the early investigation points to an accident, with "no evidence of a terrorist attack".

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https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1772645740835131473?t=KyGydetZ7nFm_g9xFbly1w&s=19
This video, viewed 1.4 million times, claims to show evidence of pre-installed explosives causing the Baltimore Bridge collapse.

What the video shows is not explosives, but most likely electrical wires catching sparks. Image
Read 4 tweets

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