WASHINGTON: Troops battle through burning streets. Missiles take down fighter jets. Drones pulverise tanks. The dramatic visuals have the trappings of real-life combat, but they are clips from video games fuelling misinformation.
Footage from the war-themed Arma 3 video game, often marked “live” or “breaking news” to make it appear genuine, has been used repeatedly in recent months in fake videos about the Russian offensive in Ukraine. The frequency and ease with which gaming footage is mistaken as real, even by some media broadcasters, and shared as authentic news on social media highlight what researchers call its serious potential to spread misinformation.
Dubbed by observers as the “first TikTok war,” it is a conflict like no other as a steady stream of visuals from the frontlines — some of it misleading or false — pour onto social media platforms. Given the unsophisticated nature of the Arma 3 misinformation, researchers say it is unlikely to be the work of state actors.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
War-themed video game fuels wave of misinformationWASHINGTON, Jan 2 — Troops battle through burning streets. Missiles take down fighter jets. Drones pulverise tanks. The dramatic visuals have the trappings of real-life combat,...
Read more »
New president vows to steer Swiss through Ukraine falloutGENEVA, Jan 1 — Switzerland’s new president Alain Berset pledged to steer one of Europe’s major economies through the inflation and energy crises triggered by the war in...
Read more »
The New Year rings in as Asia then Europe usher out 2022PARIS, Jan 1 — With fireworks planned in Paris, hopes for an end to war in Kyiv, and a return to post-Covid normality in Australia and China, Europe and Asia bid farewell to...
Read more »