You could, for example, use these tips to assert that the date is wrong, or that the details shown in the image don’t quite match up with the location given in the caption. It’s important to point out that it’s not always possible to say with absolute certainty that an image is fake. This guidance is based on the experience of journalists working with the FRANCE 24 Observers, who have been cross-checking amateur content for the FRANCE 24 news channel for the past eight years. The following tips should sharpen your skills for spotting a fake.

To take just one example, the Soviet Union regularly erased disgraced political leaders from photos, even if the results appear woefully amateurish compared to the advanced photo-editing techniques used nowadays.

Just as propaganda wasn’t born alongside the Internet, images were being edited well before the advent of Twitter and Photoshop. But although media outlets can’t always be on the ground to verify every photo that comes their way, there are dozens of tools and techniques to help you cross-check images and avoid falling for the fakes.Ħ- Geolocalization: A useful tool, but it comes with a catchĨ- Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Street Viewġ0- Use social media networks to verify social media networksġ3- You could be manipulated when you least expect it Social media networks in particular are inundated with photos and videos that are either doctored or taken out of context. Fake information online, be it on the topic of migrants or war in Syria – or, in fact, pretty much any story that’s in the news, is an increasingly common phenomenon.

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