A CNN dispatch from about 6:20 a.m. EDT this morning carries the headline above:
Mariupol came under further heavy bombardment overnight, according to a Ukrainian officer inside the city.
“Bombs are falling every 10 minutes; Russian navy warships are shelling. Yesterday the soldiers defused four tanks, [as well as] armored vehicles and troops. We still need ammunition, anti-tank weapons and air defense,” Captain Svyatoslav Palamar of the National Guard Azov Regiment in Mariupol told CNN.
Palamar said he and his fellow fighters would not surrender in Mariupol.
Some background: The Russian-issued deadline for Mariupol authorities to surrender the city passed at 5 a.m. Moscow (10 p.m. ET Sunday), with Ukrainians rejecting the ultimatum.
The port city of Mariupol, which before the war was home to around 450,000 people, has been under near constant attack from Russian forces since early March with satellite images showing significant destruction to residential areas.
The fog of war grows thicker as more Ukrainians flee the Russian invaders. Communications grow sketchier and independent reporters fewer. Russian war propoganda is more ham-fisted, but Ukraine, led by the head of a media company, has its own, and it is savvier. As destruction rains down, it becomes harder and harder to verify the real from the information warfare.
When news came that Russia had bombed a theater in Mariupol where perhaps a thousand civilians sheltered, I refreshed news sites for hours for word of survivors and found none. Only the same sketchy statements from two or three government spokespersons recycled in dispatch after dispatch. For days. Statements that a few survivors were rescued, but no news photos of them, or names, or rescuers’ efforts as we had seen from reporters on the ground after the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital a week earlier. It would have made excellent pro-Ukraine propaganda. So were the accounts exaggerated or not? Certainly fighting in the city had intensified and battles in the streets hampered rescue efforts. Five days later, however many were sheltering inside are likely entombed. No one is coming to save them.
News that Russia bombed a Mariupol art school sheltering 400 is more of the same. “The Washington Post could not independently verify the claim.” “Hundreds might be dead, the mayor said, but some of those sheltering at the school could have fled ahead of the bombing along evacuation routes that have opened up.” Were there dead and wounded or was the school empty? No news of survivors’ rescue there either. Their fate may be sealed. Mariupol authorities claims Russians forcibly deported” several thousand residents to Russia. “Reuters could not independently verify the claims.”
So it goes.
The New York Times this morning offers some advice before recirculating what could be war propaganda from either side. “Experts in misinformation say everyone has a responsibility to pause and do a bit of work to verify content before sharing it,” writes Daniel Victor, “even if it would benefit the side you support in a conflict.” He continues:
Here are some quick red flags to think about before you share:
Who’s sharing it?
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- Are they verified? On Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, many people, including journalists, have blue check marks next to their names to indicate their identities have been confirmed. These accounts make mistakes, too, and good information can come from people who are not verified, but the absence of a check could give you a reason to look for other red flags and pause before hitting that retweet button. Also be wary of parody or impostor accounts.Even when you come across verified accounts, look for hints that they have some reason to know what they’re telling you: Are they reporters on the ground or researchers who have studied the area? Or are they a celebrity having the same quick-twitch reaction you’re trying to avoid?
- Beware TwitterBot120362824. A user name consisting of a noun followed by a long series of numbers is often a sign that an account has been created inauthentically, Dr. Donovan said. A brand-new account with few prior or unrelated tweets or a low follower count might be a sign to move along.
#Excessive #hashtags
When an Instagram post seems a bit desperate for engagement, adding unrelated hashtags that might be popular like #catoftheday, it’s likely the post is coming from a disreputable place, Dr. Donovan said.
Google first.
If you do a quick web search and can’t find any news articles about what you’re seeing, it’s possible you could be looking at miscaptioned images from a previous war, Dr. Wardle said. If you’re feeling especially Sherlockian, you can search for the original source of a viral image yourself.
In one recent example, a 2012 video of a Palestinian girl confronting Israeli soldiers was widely recirculated by people suggesting it happened in Ukraine.
Seek out the fact-checkers.
Many news organizations have special teams to fact-check or debunk claims that spread during high-intensity news moments. Reuters, The Associated Press, the BBC and Agence France-Presse all have dedicated hubs that you can check first to see if that post you’re about to share was debunked days ago.
Do they want your shares, or your money?
Scammers prey on creating emotional responses and might say they’re raising funds for victims. Carefully look into any organization you’re tempted to donate to or post about by using a site like Charity Navigator to ensure it is legitimate.
I’m using Charity Navigator for that purpose. Note, however, that some pop-up war relief efforts inside Ukraine have not been around long enough to earn any rating. That’s on you to suss out.
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