Summary: Reframing context involves presenting material in such a way that its meaning or implications change. This may include removing, reordering, or mislabeling contextual details (such as time, location, source, or origin) so that audiences draw inaccurate conclusions.
Tactic: TA14 Develop Narratives
| Associated Technique | Description |
|---|
| Incident | Descriptions given for this incident |
|---|---|
| I00135 Hamas Attacks, Israel Bombs Gaza and Misinformation Surges Online | Misinformation has been spreading rapidly online ever since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. At least 1,000 people were killed and the Islamist militant group took between 100 and 150 hostages. Israel retaliated, threatening a complete siege of Gaza and hitting the area with multiple airstrikes, killing more than 900 people. [...] Misinformation can also be spread using imagery that doesn’t show conflict or violence. There are numerous examples of videos being decontextualised from their original source to appear relevant to the current Israel-Hamas attacks (T0162: Reframe Context). For example, there is a video that depicts multiple paragliders with a sunset in the background. There are some palm trees and a building shown in the video. Accounts are claiming these are Hamas soldiers paragliding into Israel. However, this video does not take place in Israel. Reuters was able to geolocate this video to Egypt. The building shown in the video is a military academy and can be found at (30.108686, 31.358481), in Cairo’s El Nozha district (T0162.004: Content Incorrectly Presented as Depicting Another Location). We were able to locate an older version of this video shared on TikTok on 24 September 2023 (T0162.003: Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current). The coat of arms of this institution can be seen in the foreground of this original footage — though in the misleading TikTok video claiming it was filmed in Israel, this detail are obscured by the caption in red, while the entire building has been cropped out from the version shared on X (T0162.008: Context Reframed by Edits to Media, T0165.002: Cropped Content). |
| I00139 2021 video of tractor rally to support farmers' protests falsely linked to wrestler's protest | Indian wrestlers have been protesting since April 2023 [against] lack of action against Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over accusations of sexual harassment by female wrestlers. Demanding that Singh be arrested, the wrestlers have asked for support from farmers, and other groups. Amid these events, some old misleading videos and images have been associated with the ongoing protests. One such video on Twitter showing tractors with Indian flags was shared as part of the wrestlers' ongoing protest. The post's caption read: "Walk to Delhi with a tractor to get justice for your daughters," and tagged women wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat. This post received over 4,000 views. Another Twitter user shared the video, claiming it showed the farmers joining the wrestlers' protest. The video was also shared by the Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress' official Facebook account. Although farmers have joined the wrestler's protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the viral video showing tractors with Indian flags is not recent (T0162.003: Historic Content Incorrectly Presented as Current) and is unrelated to the current demonstrations against sexual harassment (T0162: Reframe Context, T0068: Respond to Breaking News Event or Active Crisis). We noted that the viral video, which apparently showed a tractor march in support of the wrestlers' protest, had a Manorama News Channel logo. However, the channel did not broadcast such footage of the tractor march during the wrestlers' protests. After further examination, we found that a YouTube video by Manorama News contained the same visuals as the viral video between timestamps 0:46 and 1:45 (T0165.001: Clipped Content). However, the viral video had been edited to increase the playback speed (T0165.003: Playback Speed Altered) and had a different audio track (T0162.002: Edits Made to News Report which Reframe Context). The English translation of the Malayalam description on the YouTube video stated, "Solidarity with Farmers' Struggle; Kisan March led by Shafi Parambil," dated 2021. The rally was clearly held in support of the farmers’ protest in Delhi against the three farm laws. |
| I00192 Fact Check: False Biden quote about NATO chief’s wife shared online | In remarks made during NATO’s 75th anniversary summit, U.S. President Joe Biden told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that he had spoken to Stoltenberg’s wife, not that he had had sex with her as suggested in social media posts sharing a wrong transcription of Biden’s remarks (T0162: Reframe Context). On July 9 Biden pledged to defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion in his remarks to NATO member states at the summit. He closed his speech by surprising Stoltenberg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award, and made the reference to Stoltenberg’s wife in the 15-second excerpt shared online. The clip shows Biden behind a lectern with Stoltenberg standing to his right. Posts captioned the video, “How is the media going to spin this?!” and quoted Biden as saying: “I realized I was fvckin’ your wife?” In fact, Biden said, “…as I was talking to your wife….” (T0161.002: Statement Incorrectly Presented as Made by Individual or Institution, T0162: Reframe Context) Biden’s remarks can be seen in a White House video of the event. His words, starting at timestamp 29:38, are as transcribed by the White House : “ ... guided this alliance through one of the most consequential periods in its history. I realize I - as I was talking to your wife - I personally asked you to extend your service. (Laughs.) Forgive me. (Laughter.) And you put your...” The White House video includes an inset with an American Sign Language interpreter, who also translated the quote as it was originally uttered by Biden, not as it was transcribed in social media posts, according to Jordan Wright, communications director of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf who reviewed the video at Reuters’ request. “We found the interpreting of President Biden’s remarks at the NATO summit on July 9th that you inquired about to be organic and appropriate,” Wright said in an email. |
| Counters | Response types |
|---|
DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE - PLEASE ADD NOTES BELOW