Fakes of war

If I recall my history, the Mongols would send spies or survivors of their last slaughter into cities ahead of their approaching army. To prompt an easy surrender, “the Mongols are Coming!” spies warned villagers that the Mongols were so many and so fearsome that they would kill anyone who resisted. Propaganda has always a part of war and practiced not only by the aggressors.

Warnings about spreading fake information about the war in Ukraine are multiplying. I got bit by this one.

Caution before redistributing items found on the Net is always wise. Some from the Ukrainian side are exaggerated or meant to keep up morale. The Russian stuff is less benign. Twitter started trying to “out” accounts linked to the Russian government.

This is unbelievable – actual behinds the scenes footage from us filming our crowd scenes for my indie sci-fi movie, Invasion Planet Earth, in Central #Birmingham in 2013, has apparently been used is Russia for propaganda. https://t.co/hBRmTT65d6

— Simon Cox (@SimonCoxFilm) March 2, 2022

New @PolitiFact: I wrote about how misinformers are exploiting TikTok's audio sharing features, overlaying sounds of gunfire and sirens onto unrelated visuals and live-stream shots to create false war footage purportedly filmed from Ukraine. https://t.co/VI1tOQSy4x

— Bill McCarthy (@billdmccarthy) March 4, 2022

There are a bunch of fake images swirling on social media pretending to be CNN coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://t.co/gFZ3PVLazY

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 5, 2022

.@ZerlinaMaxwell: Along with launching physical attacks, Russia has started a disinformation campaign promoting anti-Ukrainian propaganda. https://t.co/rHB8HSUUsa

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 1, 2022

Not all “news” sites are news sites. More advice here.

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