❌This altered image has made a reappearance on Bluesky, where agents' faces were altered to make them appear as if they smiled in the direct aftermath of Trump's assassination attempt. The original photograph was taken by AP photographer Evan Vucci: news.sky.com/video/photog...

❌And the fake magazine covers just keep on comin'. Spotted this fake Charlie Hebdo cover on X (posted on Telegram before that) of Zelensky in a coffin with a word bubble in French that says, "Ukraine is an independent state." The real latest cover is visible on the right.

❌ This image has surfaced on Bluesky with a caption saying it shows Israeli actress Gal Gadot's Hollywood star destroyed. But this photo is old. A quick reverse image search shows it was first published in 2018 when Trump's star was destroyed with a pickaxe.

@seanadavis.bsky.social and I summarized the Ukraine-related misinfo seen on social media recently, where at least one claim can be traced to the Russian disinformation network Pravda. www.logicallyfacts.com/en/article/d...

❌ Fake transcript number two that has surfaced after a clash between Zelensky and Vance/Trump in the White House. Trump did say that Zelensky should be grateful and Vance questioned whether Zelensky had said thank you during their meeting - but this back-and-forth is fake.

🧵We've just seen an extraordinary clash between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance in the White House. But after significant events we tend to see misinfo. I'll be keeping track. First up, here's a fake transcript of the interaction that's surfaced on Bluesky with over 5k likes.

❌Same tactics, different day. This fake cover has surfaced on social media. It depicts a cover of the Spanish magazine El Jueves with Putin and Trump in conversation and Zelenskiy outside. One iteration has over 900 likes on X and is circulating ahead of US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia.

A video claiming that USAID has paid Hollywood stars millions of dollars to visit Ukraine has gone viral. But the clip is not real and has hallmarks of a Russian disinformation operation that BBC Verify has investigated. @shayan86.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Trump admin has ordered the FBI to shutter the team which fights foreign election interference. IE- the team who helped uncover the Russian hackers who interfered with the 2016 elections. There is a collective freak out happening among cybersecuirty teams about this. electionlawblog.org?p=148505

🧵 Dismantling of USAID was happily exploited by pro-Russian disinfo network (Matryoshka). With at least 11 fake videos impersonating world's respected media, posted Feb 3-5 on 𝕏. One of those videos got retweeted by Elon Musk and DonaldJTrump Jr to a record-setting 13M views.

Donald Trump Jr has also shared this fake E! News video about USAID, which is the work of a well-known Russian influence operation that creates fake videos of major news outlets to disparage Ukraine. This fake video now has more than 8 million views on X.

This viral video claiming USAID has paid celebrities to visit Ukraine is nowhere to be found on E!News. And it is v similar in style to a Russian operation we’ve investigated that impersonates media outlets and often pushes anti-Ukraine narratives www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Four more

Here's four

Over 7 hours after it was published - it now has a community note. (and now over 800.000 views for this clip alone)

This video - shared by a pro-Russian account - has gathered over 700,000 views on X (no community note to date). It mimics a video published by entertainment outlet E! saying that USAID sponsored celebrity visits to Ukraine to bolster Zelensky's image. It's a fake - an imposter video.

⚠️ As our 2024 "News Literacy in America" report showed (bit.ly/NewsLiteracy...), teens aren't always able to tell news stories from opinion columns or ads. 💡 Recognizing the purpose of a type of info is a foundational #NewsLiteracy skill. Video: www.tiktok.com/@newslitproj... #NewsLiteracyWeek

❌This fake Musk tweet is making the rounds on Bluesky - depicting a post saying anyone protesting the Trump administration will be "suspended from X." 🔺It can be a red flag when a screenshot circulates with no link to the original post.

📢 National #NewsLiteracyWeek in partnership with @ewscrippsco.bsky.social & @usatoday.com begins TODAY! ✨ Whether you're an educator or not, you can make a difference in young people's lives by empowering them to identify credible information. 🔗 Get involved & share: newsliteracyweek.org

❌This altered image has made its way to Bluesky - depicting an individual wearing a "Latinos for Trump" T-shirt being arrested by ICE. The original image was published by The Guardian in 2018 - the individual wore a plain grey T-shirt.

"We need an Olympic-size commitment to teaching media literacy in our classrooms across America." - Philanthropist & NLP board member Melanie Lundquist Melanie's op-ed in @usatoday.com ⤵️ ➕ National #NewsLiteracyWeek starts Feb. 3: newsliteracyweek.org www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Post on #X with Community Note:

Friendly reminder that misinformation isn’t limited to one side of the political spectrum — there’s been a notable uptick in left/liberal-leaning misinformation since the Trump assassination attempt in July.

❌This fake tweet has gone viral on X and has made its way over here to Bluesky. There's no record of Musk saying on X that MAGA will succeed "in the ways Nazi Germany failed to." It's a fake screenshot.

❌Not the first time I've seen this fake newspaper clipping popping up here on Bluesky claiming Trump scored an IQ of 73. This post has more than 800 likes. It's a well-debunked piece of misinformation and debunked by the likes of @politifact.bsky.social: www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...

January is #CervicalCancer awareness month! #DYK that cervical cancer is the 2nd most common cancer to affect women 15–44 y.o in the EU? #HPVvaccination protects against the #HPV virus, which is responsible for majority of cervical cancers. Learn more: youtu.be/hjFkUIax8Fw

❌ This graphic has appeared on Bluesky depicting a Fox News graphic of Zuckerburg reacting to Musk's gesture during the inauguration. It's a fake. They published a similar graphic two weeks ago (R) reporting on Musk reacting to Meta's move to end the company's fact-checking initiatives.

❌ This fabricated quote attributed to "the chancellor of Greenland" saying that if Trump "can't handle one polar vortex, he can't handle Greenland" is fake. It was posted by a satire Twitter account two days ago - before making it's way in screenshot form to Bluesky.

Did 8 Ukrainian generals lose their mansions in the LA fires? No. But the Russian trolls really want you to believe they did. That's why claims about Ukrainian mansions and mega yachts keep appearing – here are a few we’ve checked 🧵 www.forbes.com/sites/peters...

A timely warning that the “internet” is not just a small number of huge tech corporations. And online safety laws need to reflect that. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Some AI-generated images are difficult to spot. Others ...

❌This doctored image has over 5,000 likes on Bluesky, depicting Melania Trump holding a pamphlet upside down during Jimmy Carter's funeral. No emblem is seen in livestreams of the funeral. You can see the exact moment on the C-SPAN livestream (58:28).

I’m seeing this conspiracy theory gain fresh traction - questioning how some trees remain unscathed during wildfires. The answer lies in fire dynamics and ecology. I wrote about it in 2023 in the wake of the Maui wildfires. Take a look: www.reuters.com/article/fact...

We lost our house in the Eaton Fire. We're safe, but the level of devastation is impossible to convey. I won't be able to work for a while, so if you want to support us, I'd appreciate a Patreon subscription or buying one of my books. It will help. www.patreon.com/MikeRothschild

Viral X posts shared by Elon Musk claim that a 2008 Home Office document advised police that children abused in grooming cases "made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour". BBC Verify has found no evidence that a document with that advice exists. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Russia's online disinformation campaign took my advice and started deepfaking audio of the people it's quoting. This is deepfake me with the wrong British accent talking about the Kursk offensive.

If you’re interested in keeping up with folks countering online misinfo and fact-checking falsehoods, check out the brilliant folks below ⬇️

I encourage anyone interested in Meta’s decision to stop working with US fact checkers to read this analysis of the program and decision from @mantzarlis.com: open.substack.com/pub/fakedup/...

❌ This fake Trump quote has repeatedly resurfaced on Bluesky in recent days (and expect more of this type of misinfo ahead of the inauguration.) This fake quote calling Republicans the "dumbest group of voters" has been well debunked. eg by @fullfact.org: fullfact.org/online/donal...

I keep seeing this circulating but it’s fake.

More Ai slop. And as usual we have lots of real photos of mr. Wadlow. He was tall, very tall, but somehow someone wanted to make him even taller.

❌ This pic of Laura Loomer has gathered 4k likes on Bluesky with a caption saying it shows her demanding her X blue checkmark back at the old Twitter HQ. Except it's an old photo. @willsommer.bsky.social and others posted it back in 2018:

❌Retro anti-Trump misinfo is popping up here on Bluesky. 600 likes for this fake People magazine screenshot depicting an article saying that Trump wasn't invited to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. It was debunked by @truthometer.bsky.social back in 2022: www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...

❌ Over 800 likes on Bluesky for this fake quote attributed to Panama's president saying that they're going to double the fees for U.S. ships sailing through the canal. No trace of such a quote.

The drone/UFO flap just won’t stop although there’s nothing to report. Some accounts are now posting AI generated UAP videos. Source: UnknownFootageIG on Instagram - they have created all clips using AI www.instagram.com/unknownfoota...

This image, which has gone viral online, is AI-generated and fake. There are far too many inconsistencies pointing to this being AI: The Israeli soldiers and their equipment, the fire, the rubble and the unlikely nature of the image.

❌ Three fake screenshots mimicking Trump's Truth Social have appeared on Bluesky (and other platforms), posing as posts on a rift between the president-elect and Elon Musk. All three of these posts are fake.

The details slowly emerging about the main suspect in the horrific Magdeburg attack contradict so much of what was posted online in the immediate aftermath. This is why it's always wise to wait for the facts before rushing to post unverified information about these atrocities.

🚨 When something occurs that drives speculation & authoritative sources don’t provide immediate answers, bad actors exploit the gap in credible info with falsehoods. That's what has happened with the #drone story in NJ & nearby states. #RumorGuard post: bit.ly/DroneFalseho...