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

Jun 24
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. Image
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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 Image
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@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.

Before: 20 June
After: 22 June

📷@Maxar Image
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Read 6 tweets
Jun 9
THREAD: Misinformation about Los Angeles protests

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. Image
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. Image
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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. Image
Read 4 tweets
May 22
THREAD: What we know about Elias Rodriguez

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. Image
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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. Image
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. Image
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Read 5 tweets
May 6
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. Image
https://x.com/KYLEsW0RLD/status/1712663826632483262
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. Image
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. Image
https://x.com/ians_india/status/1830658171817677162
Read 6 tweets
Oct 9, 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". 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, 2024
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

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