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10 tips for verifying viral social media videos

Poynter – Danile Funke: “Of all types of misinformation, video is among the hardest to fact-check. First, it isn’t easily searchable like text and photos are. You can’t paste or upload a video on Facebook or Google to see if it’s true or even trending.  Second, there’s currently no way to see which videos are going viral on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They’re essentially block boxes, and fact-checkers regularly gripe about how it makes their jobs harder. (Although there has been progress with fact-checking images on Facebook.)  Then there’s the fact that fake videos are getting easier to create and harder to detect. So-called “deepfake” technology draws upon artificial intelligence to alter images and even superimpose celebrities’ heads on other people’s bodies.  With those challenges in mind, here is a list of tips and tricks for debunking viral fake videos on social media. Unfortunately, fact-checkers still don’t have good ways to verify deepfake videos — but several agreed it’s too early to tell how big the problem will become…”

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