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During D.C. Protests, False Rumors And Doctored Images Go Viral
JUN 1, 10:27 AM
During D.C. Protests, False Rumors And Doctored Images Go Viral
Martin Austermuhle
The image would shock just about anyone: a fire so large that it seems to stretch halfway up the 550-foot-tall Washington Monument, and burning so bright that it dramatically illuminated the landmark. ... Shocking, but fake.
The image was a screenshot from the fictional ABC show “Designated Survivor.” But coming on the third day of raucous protests around the White House against police violence — which did include some fires that were intentionally set — it could have seemed like it was real. ... The image quickly went viral on Twitter, not unlike a number of other rumors that spread during moments of uncertainty and chaos over the weekend.
There was a CNN reporter who some protesters accused of being a D.C. police officer in disguise, forcing CNN to clarify that he was in fact one of their journalists on the ground. ... And there were claims spread under the #dcblackout hashtag that early on Monday morning cell phones and other communication devices were blocked as some sort of strategy to allow violent police reprisals to go unreported. That, too, was not true.
“Some of my videos and pics being posted by accounts saying they were last before a “#dcblackout” where streams and cells shut down. I didn’t experience anything like that and — though I didn’t try streaming — had no issue with phone as I tweeted and worked until 2:30 am at least,” tweeted Yahoo! reporter Hunter Walker on Monday morning.
“Stop retweeting #dcblackout,” added CBS reporter Christina Ruffini. “None of this is true. Eventually, even TV crews need to sleep, but ours and many others were out late into the night. Their phones worked. Live signal was strong. Many of these tweets are the same wording. Don’t fall for whatever is happening here.”
{snip}
During D.C. Protests, False Rumors And Doctored Images Go Viral
Martin Austermuhle
The image would shock just about anyone: a fire so large that it seems to stretch halfway up the 550-foot-tall Washington Monument, and burning so bright that it dramatically illuminated the landmark. ... Shocking, but fake.
The image was a screenshot from the fictional ABC show “Designated Survivor.” But coming on the third day of raucous protests around the White House against police violence — which did include some fires that were intentionally set — it could have seemed like it was real. ... The image quickly went viral on Twitter, not unlike a number of other rumors that spread during moments of uncertainty and chaos over the weekend.
There was a CNN reporter who some protesters accused of being a D.C. police officer in disguise, forcing CNN to clarify that he was in fact one of their journalists on the ground. ... And there were claims spread under the #dcblackout hashtag that early on Monday morning cell phones and other communication devices were blocked as some sort of strategy to allow violent police reprisals to go unreported. That, too, was not true.
“Some of my videos and pics being posted by accounts saying they were last before a “#dcblackout” where streams and cells shut down. I didn’t experience anything like that and — though I didn’t try streaming — had no issue with phone as I tweeted and worked until 2:30 am at least,” tweeted Yahoo! reporter Hunter Walker on Monday morning.
“Stop retweeting #dcblackout,” added CBS reporter Christina Ruffini. “None of this is true. Eventually, even TV crews need to sleep, but ours and many others were out late into the night. Their phones worked. Live signal was strong. Many of these tweets are the same wording. Don’t fall for whatever is happening here.”
{snip}
This comrade won't be silenced:
#DCBlackout This picture is the last one seen before all media was jammed at 1am. A whole city was on fire and suddenly went silent. It's unknown if the protestors are safe. No news channels are covering this. This is really really scary. please stay safe out there!!
Link to tweet
You'd think there'd be something about it on the radio, wouldn't you? But, nope.
The papers got delivered. The trains are running. I don't see any smoke. I don't smell any smoke. What did I miss?
2 replies
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