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Being suspicious of media emerging during wartime is not "living in an alternate reality." Fuzzy images get passed around on Telegram, make their way to Twitter

Being suspicious of media emerging during wartime is not "living in an alternate reality." Fuzzy images get passed around on Telegram, make their way to Twitter/X, and then 2-months later it's determined they're from an entirely different conflict despite the media and official outlets uncritically running with the narrative. Skepticism here is quite rational.

wredue 3y ago
Are you talking about the time an alt-right group tricked a news outlet in to sharing images as a gotcha? Of course the images coming from officials in Israel are going to be propaganda for their side, and if you are consuming those images, you need to keep in mind that of course officials from Israel are going to be pushing images that make the hamas look worse. Does this mean that of course you should believe that the images are fake? I don’t think so. That’s not what “skepticism” means. Not yet anyway — ai images aren’t anywhere close to good enough for this.
- realjhol 3y ago
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- legitjhol 3y ago
  Remember the Ghost of Kyiv? When the Internet circulated unverified reports of a legendary pilot that was taking out ridiculous numbers of Russian aircraft… Turned out it was 100% fabricated. Remember Snake Island? When we were told 90 Ukrainian forces heroically refused to surrender and they were slaughtered by Russian MIL… Turned out Russia took all of them alive and they all surrendered willingly. Remember when the media were using old photos and video from Syria and footage from video game simulators? My point is, that war propaganda is real, and Western media have been been producing it in Ukraine and for decades before that. As it pertains to Israel/Palestine; we don’t know what reports are real, what is being exaggerated, who is behind what. But history would suggest that everything the official narrative says now will end up being vastly different later on. I wish we didn’t have to think like this, but the media have proven themselves to be not just inaccurate, but intentionally distorting and manipulating the truth to control public perception and advance their agenda, especially in the early stages of a new war when narratives are being established. Needless to say, there is a lot of disinformation out there.

wredue 3y ago

Are you talking about the time an alt-right group tricked a news outlet in to sharing images as a gotcha? Of course the images coming from officials in Israel are going to be propaganda for their side, and if you are consuming those images, you need to keep in mind that of course officials from Israel are going to be pushing images that make the hamas look worse. Does this mean that of course you should believe that the images are fake? I don’t think so. That’s not what “skepticism” means. Not yet anyway — ai images aren’t anywhere close to good enough for this.

realjhol 3y ago
[dead]
legitjhol 3y ago
Remember the Ghost of Kyiv? When the Internet circulated unverified reports of a legendary pilot that was taking out ridiculous numbers of Russian aircraft… Turned out it was 100% fabricated. Remember Snake Island? When we were told 90 Ukrainian forces heroically refused to surrender and they were slaughtered by Russian MIL… Turned out Russia took all of them alive and they all surrendered willingly. Remember when the media were using old photos and video from Syria and footage from video game simulators? My point is, that war propaganda is real, and Western media have been been producing it in Ukraine and for decades before that. As it pertains to Israel/Palestine; we don’t know what reports are real, what is being exaggerated, who is behind what. But history would suggest that everything the official narrative says now will end up being vastly different later on. I wish we didn’t have to think like this, but the media have proven themselves to be not just inaccurate, but intentionally distorting and manipulating the truth to control public perception and advance their agenda, especially in the early stages of a new war when narratives are being established. Needless to say, there is a lot of disinformation out there.