Why is it so important to verify sources and visual materials? In today's digital world, it is very easy for malicious actors to create and share fake news that is convincing and difficult to detect as fake. There have been many cases where the reputation of professional journalists and news organizations has been damaged by the sharing and republishing of false information, photos, videos, or information from fake people. In some cases, they have even misinterpreted satirical materials, distributing or publishing them as fact.
The problem is exacerbated by the large volume of visual materials on the internet, as any of them can be used out of context and recycled into other events or news, as we see happen almost daily around the world with fraudsters and forgers who lie to both politicians and professional journalists.
While it may not be possible to determine with complete certainty the provenance of visual materials, there are a number of telltale signs of problematic spots that can be detected through a simple verification process that asks these questions:
- Is it original material, or was it "copied" from previous reports and fraudulently appropriated?
- Has the content been digitally manipulated?
- Can we confirm the time and place where the photograph/film footage was taken, using the digital data we have available?
- Can we confirm the time and place where the photograph/film footage was taken, using the visual evidence of the material?
To effectively find telltale signs of trouble spots, we need to know the most commonly used types of manipulation with false or misleading visual materials:
- Wrong time/wrong place: The most commonly used types of misleading visual materials are old photographs or videos that are re-shared claiming to show something else. Viral spread in these cases occurs through accidental sharing of materials that can be easily discredited but are very difficult to remove from circulation.
- Manipulated content: materials that have been manipulated using computer programs for editing photographs or film footage.
- Staged materials: original materials that are created or distributed with the intent to mislead the public.
source: Journalism, 'Fake News' & Disinformation: A Manual for Training and Educating Journalists