![]() Image: Screenshot, Google, courtesy of author Performing a Google search and checking the cached version of a verified account can also help to identify if a suspect Twitter screenshot has recently been tweeted but deleted. That is handy as most fake tweets are also made in relation to well-known accounts.Īrchive websites are by far the best and most reliable way of checking deleted tweets, commonly used by fact-checkers and open source investigators. While these services do not provide an archive of every single Twitter account, most major accounts, including well-known news brands, are regularly archived. A simple search of a Twitter account will allow you to see if the tweet screenshot appears on an account’s archived timeline before possibly having been deleted. The best way to check deleted tweets is by using free web archive services such as Internet Archive. What if the account had sent the tweet, but later deleted it? Now that we’ve established we cannot find the actual tweet on Twitter’s website or mobile app, there’s another question that needs to be answered. Image: Screenshot, Twitter, courtesy of author Here’s a fake tweet seemingly from the BBC’s breaking news account that I’ve made using one of those generators, “US President Joe Biden has announced that he will resign from his post by the end of the year.”Ī check of then BBC Breaking News account’s actual Twitter timeline reveals that the purported tweet does not appear in the date range where it should. There are many websites that allow you to create a fake tweet with a verified tag. In order to post a real tweet with an actual web link from an account one would have to either know the account’s password or hack into it, neither of which are the subject of this article. It’s important to note that these fake screenshots are always in the form of an image, rather than a webpage or link to a tweet that one can like, retweet, quote tweet, or reply to. Primarily, fake tweet screenshots are made using one of three methods: with a photo editing app, by using a fake tweet generator, or via editing the HTML source code of a real tweet. So, how can journalists sift genuine tweet screenshots from fabricated ones?įirst, it’s important to know how these screenshots are created. The Russian embassy in the UK subsequently tweeted the fake screenshot as a genuine comment by Kishi, assuming it was real, but Kishi confirmed he’d never posted that tweet. In August, a completely fabricated tweet screenshot presumably posted by Nobuo Kishi, a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister, which blamed Ukraine for targeting the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was shared online. Throughout the war in Ukraine, multiple false screenshots purporting to have contained reports from news organizations or public officials have gone viral online. ![]() Given the popularity of Twitter among journalists and news organizations, this can lead to inaccurate information being viewed and shared by millions on the assumption that the screenshots were tweets produced by major news outlets and reporters working for them. Fake tweet screenshots are made using one of three methods: with a photo editing app, by using a fake tweet generator, or via editing the HTML source code of a real tweet. Screenshots of tweets can easily be faked using simple tricks and used to mislead audiences for a variety of purposes. Unfortunately, as we know far too well, that’s not how the internet works. ![]() But unlike a quote tweet, in which the actual tweet posted by an account is accessible, screenshots rely on audiences trusting that the post seen in the screenshot is real. Sharing screenshots of tweets is a common way of sharing information on Twitter. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Global Shining Light Award – Українською.Global Investigative Journalism Network. ![]()
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