Footage from the war-themed video game Arma 3 is often marked as “live” or “breaking news” to make it look authentic and is used repeatedly.
Troops fight in burning streets. Missiles shoot down fighter jets. Drones smash tanks. The dramatic visuals have the trappings of real combat, but they’re clips from video games that promote misinformation.
Footage from the war-themed video game Arma 3 is often marked as “live” or “breaking news” to make it look authentic, but in recent months there have been fake news about Russian attacks in Ukraine. It is used repeatedly in the video.
The frequency and ease with which gaming footage is misinterpreted as real, even by some media outlets, and shared as genuine news on social media highlights the serious potential for researchers to spread misinformation. doing.
Claire Wardle, co-director of Brown University’s Information Futures Lab, told AFP: “The fact that things like this keep happening is a reminder of how easy it is to fool people. It’s a thing,’ he said.
“As video game visuals become more sophisticated, CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) will look more realistic at first sight. People need to know. Method Validate your images, including reviewing metadata, to avoid these mistakes, especially in newsrooms. ”
Promised by the Czech-based developer to be “true combat gameplay in a massive military sandbox,” Arma 3 lets players explore different battlefield scenarios with aircraft, tanks, and a plethora of weapons. You can create
Players often upload hours of game footage to platforms such as: Youtube Researchers accuse its misuse of being easily obtainable.
Comment below the Arma 3 video titled “Ukraine strikes back!” — This was a simulated missile attack on a column of tanks — A user who apparently thought it was real wrote: Ukraine To train how NATO forces will fight after this war. ”
– ‘Beginning tick tock war’ –
“While we are pleased that Arma 3 simulates modern warfare conflicts in a realistic way, we are certainly not pleased that it could be mistaken for actual combat footage and used as war propaganda. No,” a representative of the game’s creator, Bohemia Interactive, said in a statement.
“We have tried to combat such content by flagging it. video Offer it to the platform provider, but it’s not very effective. Once all videos are removed, 10 more videos will be uploaded each day. ”
In recent years, Arma 3 videos have been used to misrepresent other conflicts, including Syria, Afghanistan and Palestine, and the clips are often debunked by global fact-checkers.
This includes AFP debunked several videos using Arma 3 content, in November showing Russian tanks being hit by US-made Javelin missiles. It also includes what is claimed to be The clip has been viewed tens of thousands of times on social media.
Bohemia Interactive said misleading videos had recently “gained momentum” regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
Dubbed “the first TikTok war” by observers, it is a conflict like no other, with a constant stream of footage—some misleading and false—from the front lines. Social media platform.
Given the simple nature of the Arma 3 misinformation, researchers say it is unlikely that it was the work of government officials.
“The people posting this content are doing it to see how many people they can fool,” Nick Waters, of digital forensics firm Bellingcat, told AFP. I think it’s nothing more than a troll,” he said.
“Secondary spreaders will be gullible people Who Pick up this content and distribute it to earn fake the internet point. ”
According to Bohemia Interactive, these fake videos were “massively shared” by social media users, many of which were driven by what the researchers called engagement bait — likes, shares, and comments. We’re looking for eye-catching posts that generate 1000+ interactions.
-“Different from reality”-
According to Bohemia Interactive, the Arma 3 video, whose creators have admitted to being “well-equipped to spread fake news,” was also shared by various mainstream media outlets and government agencies around the world.
In a live broadcast in November, Romanian TV erroneously presented old Arma 3 videos as combat footage from Ukraine, and Romania’s former defense minister and former head of intelligence offered a veritable analysis of the footage. .
This came after another Romanian news channel, Antenna 3, made the same mistake in February. A spokesman for the Romanian Ministry of Defense was among the experts the broadcaster invited to analyze the video taken from ARMA 3.
Bohemia Interactive encourages users to use game footage responsibly, refrain from using clickbait video titles, and clearly state that they are derived from video games.
Falsified images, audio, and videos created using technology experts warn are frighteningly sophisticated and have earned a place in the criminal underworld.
“It’s really not difficult to identify these (Arma 3) videos as fake if you know what you’re looking for,” said Waters.
“Arma 3 looks great, but it’s still very different from reality.”
The fact that many are unable to do so presents another harsh reality in the age of misinformation.
“It shows that some people just don’t have the skills to navigate the current information environment,” said Waters.
