PHOENIX — Every day, videos and photos of the terror happening overseas between Israel and Hamas are being posted on social media. But with the deluge of posts comes a disinformation wildfire.
It turns out, some of those posts that claim to be happening now, took place months ago before the conflict started or never actually happened.
One video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, claims an Israeli helicopter was shot down by a Hamas soldier. Taking a closer look at the video, you can tell something is off. That's because it's actually from a video game according to a context warning now attached to the post.
Another post shows a video of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza claiming it happened Saturday. In reality, this video was taken back in May months before the current conflict began, according to the Associated Press..
"Typically, whenever there's really hot, exciting, dramatic breaking news, that is what brings out the fakers," said media literacy expert Julie Smith with Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Smith specializes in debunking disinformation videos. She says these types of photos or videos are constantly posted to social media sites and learning which ones are real can be difficult.
“The photos are real, the videos are real, they're just being repackaged or recycled or reframed into the current conflict now,” Smith said.
On Monday, officials with X wrote in a statement that since the terrorist attack there have been more than 50 million posts regarding the war. The statement also claimed the social media platform is working on addressing the misinformation.
Watchdog groups said X's content moderation team was gutted by billionaire Elon Musk after he bought it last year.
When asked why these posts are being made in the first place, Smith said some are doing it to generate ad revenue, spreading propaganda and some may doing it just to see if they can fool others.
“They don't verify it before it goes out and then it just goes viral and travels like crazy,” Smith said.
In order to identify what's real and what's not, Smith recommends social media users show increased skepticism.
“Recognize your source, whoever is sending you this information, or sharing this information isn't necessarily the person who created it," Smith said. "Also, remember, on the social media platforms, anybody can post anything and say that it's anything.”
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