Summary: Video and Image content depicting a specific location may be misrepresented as depicting another location. For example, a video showing a protest in one country may be presented as showing a protest in another country.
To make this assertion, analysts need to identify the location depicted in a piece of content (e.g. through geolocation), and confirm that it is incorrectly being presented as depicting another location.
Indicators include visible indicators of separate geography like different language, climate, topography or architecture.
Tactic: TA14 Develop Narratives
Parent Technique: T0162 Reframe Context
| Associated Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| T0162.003 Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current | T0162.003: Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current commonly cooccurs with T0162.004: Content Incorrectly Presented as Depicting Another Location. |
| Incident | Descriptions given for this incident |
|---|---|
| I00130 Images of a ‘Palestinian girl’ being rescued were taken in Syria in 2016 | Posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) sharing images of a girl being rescued claim: “This Palestinian girl is saved by 3 different people from 3 different locations on 3 different days and all locations are 50 KM apart from each other. Wondering why she keeps travelling so far especially in the conflict zone?” It’s not entirely clear what these posts are suggesting. We have not seen any reports that could misleadingly suggest the same Palestinian girl has been rescued on three separate occasions. And if we take the posts literally, they are not true, because we can say for certain that these images come from Aleppo, Syria (T0162.004: Content Incorrectly Presented as Depicting Another Location), in the aftermath of a bombing that took place on 27 August 2016 (T0162.003: Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current). They do not come from the current conflict in Israel and Gaza, and do not show rescues taking place in Gaza. Reverse image searches of each photo show that they were all taken on the same day, at the same location, and show the same girl being passed between different rescuers (T0162: Reframe Context). The first photo featured in coverage of the Aleppo bombing by the Daily Mail and The Sun. The second featured in reports on the same bombing by NBC News, while the third was published alongside a report on the bombing by Arab Times, and also appears in an ABC News report on the impact of the war in Syria on children, with a caption stating that it was taken at the 27 August 2016 bombing. Social media posts about these images were previously fact checked by Snopes in 2016 (T0160.006: Content Previously Fact Checked), and Africa Check in 2019 (T0160.006: Content Previously Fact Checked) after it was claimed that CNN had used them to illustrate three different refugee crises. |
| I00131 Video shows scenes in Algiers, not bombing in Gaza | A viral video is being shared on social media with the claim it shows the Gaza Strip following the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. But it actually comes from Algiers (T0162.004: Content Incorrectly Presented as Depicting Another Location) and predates events in October 2023 (T0162.003: Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current). The clip is likely to actually show celebrations from football fans (T0162: Reframe Context). The video shows a skyline illuminated in red with thousands of small fires and the sound of explosions. It has been shared across social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok with the claim it shows the Gaza Strip. Multiple posts have the caption: “If Russia did this in Kiev it would be all over the news and everyone would be screaming "genocide", but it's happening in Gaza and no one cares about the civilian casualties.” Another post claims it is an “old video from Gaza”. However, the video does not show either current or past events in the Gaza Strip (T0160.002: Information is False). The lights and explosions appear to be fireworks and flares. Journalists at Bellingcat located the clip to Algiers using a roundabout and billboard that can be seen in the background of the footage, which has also been verified by fact checkers at Reuters. The video was also reportedly first posted to TikTok on 28 September—but has since been deleted—and was reshared on YouTube that same day, predating the recent conflict that began on 7 October. While the specific context of the clip is not absolutely clear, footage showing similar scenes was posted online on 8 August 2023 in celebration of the 102nd anniversary of Algiers-based football club Mouloudia Alger. There are several other videos showing Algerian football fans celebrating with bright red fireworks on many different occasions dating as far back as 2014. |
| Counters | Response types |
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