SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - A Media Literacy expert says fact checkers are likely overwhelmed with the volume of questionable images, videos and reports coming from Ukraine.
Author Julie Smith tells KMOX, technology makes it easy for someone to repackage video from years ago, or pass off an unrelated photo as something happening now in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
She says you need to be skeptical of what you see posted on social media and take time to try and confirm it. "Disinformation is done deliberately and malinformation is created with intent to harm," explains Smith. "Sometimes it has a little nugget of truth in it which makes it seems more believable." She says Russia is wielding it like a cyberweapon, "it's the 2022 digital equivalent of dropping leaflets on your enemy."
One video that's been shared countless times, appears to show shelling at night. But the Associated Press did some work and discovered it's actually a recording of a popular video game. In other instances, digital forensics experts and other watchdog agencies have found footage claiming to be of current events in Ukraine are actually videos from events in other countries recorded years ago.
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