Attention! Provocative fake news is circulating in Narva

When a story touches on fake news, often stories from major media outlets and related factual checks are often discussed. It is much less talked about in social media grassroots fake news. Still such lies given the right circumstances can become big media events, we recall the domestic story of the  soldiers from Great Britain, as well as the „Meie Lisa“ (our Lisa) incident in Germany.

Such social media fake postings are not circulated that frequently in Estonia, but the volunteers of Propastop noted one such thing in the Russian-speaking environment of Vkontakte. We will give proof that we are evidently dealing with fake news.

The Vkontakte website Мы-Нарвские, published on December 16 a Russian language posting on how an incident in Lasnamäe on December 12 involved a passerby attacking an anti- UN migration policy activist.

A photo is attached to the story showing a person wearing an Estonian flag on his sleeve attacking an individual. There are six photos and they have been replicated on a poster with the wording of „ has suffered“ as well as anti- migration policy and EU sentiments.

Since it is not possible to see the faces in the picture of the alleged conflict nor details of the location, Propastop has doubts and thinks that this picture and the whole incident was staged.

How do you verify the authenticity of pictures? There is no report on record with the police that there was a fight or incident in Lasnamäe on that day. However, the individuals involved possibly simply did not report the incident, so the absence of a police report is not valid proof of it not happening.

With a closer inspection of the photo, the truth is revealed. There is a lot of snow on the ground in the picture of the fighters. However, on December 12, when the alleged incident took place there was not this amount of snow on the ground in Tallinn. We found a number of photos from social media on this day in Tallinn, which clearly show that the capital city did not have anywhere close to the amount of snow on the ground as shown in the photo.

Therefore the photos are fake and do not actually represent the situation that it claims happened. It is highly likely that the total information on the incident is incorrect as well.

The poster and the latest phrases and topics in the news speak about an attempt to provoke the public and cause a rift against the UN migration policy as well as the European Union. Using the topic #ESTexitEU, which has been circulated through social media channels, has also begun to spread in Narva with usage of photos showing elements of being staged.

If Propastop readers can provide more information about the incident or find similar fake news in social media, please contact us via the anonymous feedback form on the blog or on Facebook.

Photos from VK.com environment