I see it, therefore I believe it

Which and how many times are the fake images related to relevant events of the last 6 years debunked on Google.com?

Crisis actor Same girl seen crying in different tragedies Hyde Park Strike Photos of Sydney’s Hyde Park climate Strike that never happened Hurricane Sandy Rohingya Crisis Rohingya refugee crisis old photos spread as new Hovercraft Landing Fake photo of hovercraft landing in North Korea Slovyansk Ukraine Fake photo of a morgue in Slovyansk (Ukraine) Boko Haram Boko Haram burns 375 Christians Fake Presidential Seal Projection of a fake presidential seal during Trump speech Hurricane Matthew Palestinian Refugees in Syria Yarmouk Camp photos Hurricane Florence Trump Fake Video Fake video depicting Trump shooting his political enemies Las Vegas Shooting A shooter opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip Hero Dog Photoshop of Trump awarding a military dog Medal of Honour Richard Di Natale Circulation of fake Di Natale rifle image Ferguson shooting Dhaka attack Israel assault Flight 370 disappears Ebola outbreak Flight 17 crash Charleston shooting Yemen Civil War Turkey and Russia in Syrian war Charlie Hebdo San Bernardino shooting UN sanctions Iran Trump Elections Orlando Shooting Brexit Catalonia protests Hurricane Maria Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Irma Grenfell Tower fire Douma chemical attack J.Khashoggi murder Sulawesi earthquake Summit USA - North Korea Royal wedding Flight17_A Amazon rainforest fire Honk Kong protests Christchurch shooting Boris Johnson election Notre Dame fire 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Ferguson shooting 0 Dhaka attack Israel assault 0 0 Flight 370 disappears 5 2 3 1 1 1 Ebola outbreak 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Flight 17 crash 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 Charleston shooting 0 1 Yemen Civil War 1 1 Turkey and Russia in Syrian war 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Charlie Hebdo 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5 3 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 San Bernardino shooting 1 1 1 1 2 UN sanctions Iran 1 1 1 1 1 Trump Elections 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 2 1 1 Orlando Shooting 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Brexit 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Catalonia protests 5 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Hurricane Maria 1 1 1 Hurricane Harvey 6 1 45 10 28 7 6 6 3 6 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 Hurricane Irma 20 1 12 2 14 3 1 2 5 2 4 2 11 4 7 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 Grenfell Tower fire 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 8 3 2 1 1 8 Douma chemical attack 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 2 3 J.Khashoggi murder 1 2 4 13 Sulawesi earthquake 1 1 1 1 Summit USA - North Korea 1 1 Royal wedding 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 Flight17_A 2 1 Amazon rainforest fire 23 20 7 8 6 5 6 5 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Honk Kong protests 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Christchurch shooting 1 1 1 2 2 13 5 Boris Johnson election 12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Notre Dame fire 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 16 1 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Gossip Politics War Terrorist attack Disaster Environmental catastrophe Type of event Times the image was debunked HOW TO READ

Given the great media resonance and wide audience they reach, relevant events are more likely to generate both positive debate and opportunities for falsification. In this scenario, it is interesting to highlight the possible creation and dissemination of visual misinformation about an event and the response to it, which is translated into the number of sites that declare an image false. At the same time, the aim is to study whether the awareness of the phenomenon has increased over time and whether specific types of events are more subject to debunking.

Main Findings

Among the relevant events, those with no debunked false images - such as Ferguson Shooting, Palestinian Refugees in Syria, Israel Assault and others - are fewer in number than those with false images declared fake.

finding1


The number of debunked images has significantly increased through the years. In 2014 there are 31 images officially declared false, while in 2019 there are 82. In addition, 2019 was the year in which individual images were debunked more times than in any other year.

finding1


The images that have been debunked the most are those related to environmental catastrophes and disasters. Examples are the Amazon Fire, the Hurricane Harvey and the Hurricane Irma, which, involve many people through the media and online newspapers due to their catastrophic scale.

finding3


Most images have been debunked less than 16 times: this is the starting point for an exponential increase of the debunking phenomenon. Only 7 photos exceed this threshold: therefore only in rare cases many sites were active in declaring false the same image en masse.

finding4


The image declared false the most (45 times) is the one representing a shark on a highway linked to the Hurricane Harvey catastrophe, which is also one of the most absurd photos.

finding5

Protocol

example of protocol

Data sources

Date of retrieval

03/11/2019

05/11/2019