Analysis: Social media posts about Afghanistan — From False to Verified
In this article, Annie Lab delves into three unverified social media content about Afghanistan in turmoil
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annie lab
@HKU School of Future Media
Misleading
The claim is accompanied by non-altered evidence but it is used out of context or in a demonstrably misleading way. The key evidence may be fact-based, but the claim and information associated with the evidence are not true.
Misleading: This photo does not show Afghans waiting for a plane in Kabul
The image showing people standing on passenger boarding steps was not taken in Afghanistan. It’s from a 14-year-old video shot in California.
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Misleading: Photos of HKU bulletin board with slogans of dissent were shot in 2016 and 2018, not after student body’s recent apology over controversial motion
The misleading Facebook and Weibo posts featured a collage of two old news photos taken from local news media outlets.
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Misleading: This video of Hong Kong kindergarteners conducting Chinese flag-raising ceremony was filmed years ago
Online posts claimed the Chinese Communist Party started “brainwashing” kids in Hong Kong recently, backed with a video of kindergarten pupils in a flag-raising ceremony. However, it was produced in 2015, according to a media interview with the kindergarten principal.
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Misleading: This 2013 article refers to MERS, not COVID-19, and did not say coronaviruses are human-made
The 2013 article has nothing to do with the current COVID-19 pandemic. The study mentioned in the story does not conclude coronaviruses can be human-made.
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Misleading: Hong Kong’s radiation levels neither exceeded safety limits nor increased drastically after issues reported at Taishan nuclear plant
The radiation levels remained consistent. A nuclear expert says a comparison with Fukushima is pointless as readings are ‘well within the safety limit’.
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Misleading: This photo does not show Myanmar Army protecting protesters
The insignia and logo in the uniforms and caps belonged to the Karen National Police Force, a police unit of an organization seeking autonomy for the Karen ethnic group.
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Misleading: This video does not show Mexican immigrants in “storage containers” in the US; it shows mobile homes at a quarantine site in China
A tweet suggested the U.S. President Joe Biden has created what looks like “concentration camps” at the U.S.-Mexican border but the embedded video clip actually shows a COVID-19 quarantine site in Yunnan province, China.
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Misleading: This picture does not show a protester in Kalay, Myanmar, being shot with his hands raised
The photo claims to show a man named Zin Myo Maung being shot in Kalay in Myanmar. However, the photo was taken in Yangon and does not show him.
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Misleading: These photos do not show the Burmese burning the Sino-Myanmar pipeline
Photos in the tweet are either old news photos or stock photos. None of the photos was taken in Myanmar or related to the ongoing protests.
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