Wed 08 January 2020:
Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at at least two military bases in Iraq, where US troops are housed, early Wednesday morning local time, the Pentagon said.
We have compiled a running list of falsehoods and unverified information following the attack.
1. It’s too early to tell whether there have been any casualties and, if so, now many. Current reports of casualties are unverified.
Twitter / @markhughes
2. There are many outdated photos being spread. These are images from 2019, not tonight’s attack, according to Google reverse image search.
3. This image is from 2018, not tonight’s attack, according to Google reverse image search.
4. This image is from 2017, not tonight’s attack, according to Google reverse image search.
The misleading image was used by the Daily Mirror, and NPR embedded a tweet with it.
5. This video is not from Iraq, it was shot in 2015 in Luhansk, Ukraine.
6. This image is from 2019, not tonight’s attack, according to Google reverse image search.
7. This image of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, is from 2014, not tonight.
Alleged image of Khamenei supervising strike is fake. Taken during 2014 IRGC Aerospace Force exhibition pic.twitter.com/ZNZ4gaEXO1
— Fabian Hinz (@fab_hinz) January 8, 2020
8. Media in Florida report that men have received text messages claiming they’ve been drafted. The Office of the Secretary of Defense said “these messages are fraudulent.” There is no draft.
#NEW: Young men in #Jacksonville are getting fake text messages saying they’ve been drafted into the #military, and are going to #Iran.
“These messages are fraudulent. Do not respond or call the numbers listed.” – Office of Secretary of Defense. pic.twitter.com/yaheyngfr5
— Ryan Nelson (@RyanANJax) January 8, 2020
9. Twitter accounts are sharing unsourced and unverified information, such as this:
And this.
And this.
And this. There were no confirmed reports of casualties at the time this tweet was sent.
The same is true with these two tweets claiming casualty numbers.
10. This video is from Luhansk, Ukraine in 2015, not Iraq.
The same video was used in this TikTok.
TikTok / Via tiktok.com
And on Instagram.
11. This video is from Qatar, not Iraq. It shows Qatar Emir land forces, according to a May article from Military.com. The video was shared widely, including by a fake Robert DeNiro account.
This video was taken in Saudi Arabia in September, when a drone attacked an oil processing plant. It’s not from Baghdad.
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