Jochen SpangenbergDeutsche Welle, Research & Cooperation Projects
Twitter: @jospang
NEM Summit 2017
Madrid, 29 November 2017
Source: Manipulated image of an apparent Iranian missile testSource : Manipulated image shared by Facebook user Gregory Michael, apparently
showing shark swimming in New Jersey waters after hurricane Sandy.
Copyright Notice & Disclaimer
Note: this is a slightly adapted version of a presentation held at NEM Summit, Madrid,,
on 29 November 2017. It is made available to participants and others interested in the
topic verification of eyewitness media / user-generated content and the
misinformation ecosystem.
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"What the F _ _ _ !?"
My keynote presentation:
Handling and verifying social media content
Source : from motion picture “Jaws”, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: Thomas Peschak (2003). Photo taken off the South Africa coast. (Image on previous page = extract)
Source: screenshot of Tweet from Twitter account of Jason Michael (@Jeggit) Source: Taken from here (original tweet no longer exists)
Selection of “re-appearances“
Not so funny …
Source: Tweets circulating on Twitter, claiming to be of
crashed Germanwings flight 9525
Source: Daily Mail Online,
19 November 2015
Source: The Observers.
Why post and share (inaccurate) information?• Personal reasons (ego, “5 minutes of fame“, “fun“,
vanity, attention seeking, urge, carelessness, habit, …)
• Neglect, lack of skills, speed, inexperience,
“human factor”
• Influence opinion or bring across
particular viewpoints / positions
(PR, spin, marketing, propaganda, ...)
• Make money
Source : Screenshot of Twitter profiles of IDF and Al Qassam Brigades
Source: Typology developed by
Eliot Higgins, enhanced by Claire
Wardle, published on First Draft
News, Feb 2017
Source: Screenshot of Wired article ,
Feb 2017
The Macedonian Teens Who
Mastered Fake News
Typology of misinformation (aka “Fake News“)
Source: Claire Wardle on First Draft News, 16 Feb 2017 Source: eavi, July 2017
So we get this…
Source: The Guardian, 23 March 2016 Source : Screenshot of Twitter post of @MalCPD on 23 March 2017
… and this …
Source: Image credit: Nickolay Lamm/StorageFront interpretation of Climate Central data.
Source: Image courtesy of Fourandsix.com
… and this …
Source: Screenshot of fake CNN Politics Twitter account. Taken from a Buzzfeed article of 2016
Source: Screenshot of the real CNN Politics Twitter account. Taken on 10 Nov 2016
The “sad news” …
Source: Buzzfeed News, Nov 2016 Source: Buzzfeed News, Nov 2016
Value of content residing
in social networks (esp. for news)
Source: Janis Krums
Nepal, April 2015Source: Global Voices Online, 26 April 2015. Image by Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepali Times.
Paris 13 Nov 2015Source: Screenshot of video by Le Monde
journalist Daniel Psenny, courtesy of LeMonde
Brussels 21 March 2016Source: Screenshot from video of Pinchas
Kopferstein
Verification in Action(and dealing with social media content)
Source: here (original tweet no longer exists)
Back to the sharks
Source: screenshot of Tweet from Twitter account of
Jason Michael (@Jeggit) of 28 August 2017
Starting point
Source: manipulated photo, as posed on Instagram account of nois7, Image source here.
Source: screenshot of a Google Reverse Image Search Source: screenshot of a Tineye image search
Source: screenshot of a Wolfram Alpha
weather check
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Source: screenshot of an Exif data check performed with Jeffrey‘s Exif Viewer
Source: screenshot of @kdekranis9 account on Twitter
taken on 22 October 2017
Sources: screenshots of who.is domain check, mentionmapp and followerwonk
Source: screenshot of Twitter profile of Jason Michael (@Jeggit) taken on 30 August 2017
Tools / Platforms(in addition to common sense
and critical reflections)
Sources: Screenshots of Suncalc, Google Maps & Translate, Tweetdeck, Followerwonk, Mentionmapp, Topsy,
Storyful Pro, Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer, Panoramio, Pipl, Amnesty’s YouTube Data Viewer
Source: Salimfadhley. (CC BY-SA 3.0)Source: Georg Mittenecker (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Some of our activities(in the verification sphere)
Source: screenshots of selected works / efforts carried out by REVEAL consortium
Algorithm-supported verification (11/2013-12/2016)
Areas of work:
• Verification tools
• Social media analysis
• Geo-tools
• Influencer analysis
• Verification workflows
• Checklists for journalists
• Market research
• Legal investigations
• …
More on http://revealproject.eu/ & @RevealEU
The Image Verification Assistant
Source: screenshots of selected works / efforts carried out by REVEAL consortium
Source: screenshots of selected works / efforts carried out by InVID consortium
Focus on video verification (01/2016-12/2018)
Areas of work:
• Workflow analysis & support
• Develop (part)automated
verification to/for :
− Detect manipulations
− Logo detection
− Forensics
− Image recognition &
classification
• Legal aspects / rights clearance
• Benchmark analysis
• ....
Source: screenshots of selected works / efforts carried out by InVID consortium
Examples (available already, free-to-use)
Chrome & Firefox extension / plug-into support video verification
Disturbing image detector
Note: Image has been blurred manually by Jochen Spangenberg
More on http://www.invid-project.eu/ & @InVID_EU
Some lessons learned (extracts)
Technical side
• Full automation of verification = unlikely in near future
• Numerous useful tools out there already
(hardly any “made specifically for journalism”)
Practical side
• UGC / digital content verification = “must know” for journalism
• UGC verification = not yet commonplace for journalists
Challenges
• Right tools for right job
• Solutions “made for journalism”
needed
• Organisational / corporate aspects
• Collaboration
Source: geralt (CC BY-SA, Pixabay)
A consequence ...
Source: Eva Lopez
● Collaborative verification
● Organising individual tasks
● Workflow integration
● External tool integration
● Easy sharing of output/results
06/2016 -09/2017
Core idea of Truly.Media: Collaboration & simplification
The Tool: Truly Media (1)
40
Beta Version V1.5.0
The Tool: Truly Media (2)
41
Final observations
and remarks
The basics
• Who
• When
• What
• Where
• How
• Why Source: Flickr, by s1lang, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Know your tools and tactics
Source: plenty.r. (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Dina Regine (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0) Source: Takver (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: succo (Pixabay, CC0)
Ethical issues
Source: Jordi Mir(head of victim blurred by Jochen Spangenberg)
• Responsibility of people who post UGC
• Possible consequences for eyewitnesses / relatives / friends
Source: The Guardian, 15 August 2015. Source: Image published by The Sun, UK, 23
March 2017 (face of victim blurred by Jochen Spangenberg)
Source: Reuters (face blurred by Jochen Spangenberg) Source: Live Leaks (body blurred by Jochen Spangenberg)
Trauma / PTSD
Source: Flickr, Terry Johnston , CC BY 2.0
In sum
• Information residing in social networks can have high information / news value
• Awareness and knowledge of dangers and pitfalls is vital (legal, ethical, social,
financial, personal >>> know “the rules”)
• Understand the “misinformation ecosystem” und underlying motivations
• Teach (respectively learn)
critical thinking
• Ideally: always verify before
sharing (“think before you share”)
• Get to know useful tools and tactics
• Invest time and resources
• Cooperation between
stakeholders
• Advance the issue / topic with
needs-focussed R&D and such likeSource: geralt (CC0)
• Include EU consultation screenshots
Source: GiselaFotografie / Pixabay, CC0
The thing about
responsibility …
Source: EU Commission / DSM
Jochen SpangenbergDeutsche Welle, Research & Cooperation Projects
[email protected]: @jospang
NEM Summit 2017Madrid, 29 November 2017