As fighting intensifies in northern Ethiopia, misinformation is rapidly spreading on social media.
Recently, clashes between various allied rebel groups and federal forces have escalated in Ethiopia's northern Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions.
Amidst this conflict, false claims related to federal army defeats and prisoner captures are rapidly spreading on social media. Posts are increasingly packaged with sensational content without specific location or situation descriptions, undermining the reliability of information.
A one-minute video claiming to show federal army prisoners was posted on social media, causing controversy.
However, a reverse image search confirmed that the video was released on July 7, 2021, by 'Atena TV.' It actually shows federal soldiers captured by Tigray rebels in the past and is unrelated to the current conflict situation.
A photo was circulated on social media along with claims that a federal army drone was shot down by a rebel coalition.
This photo was determined to be an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated image, showing technical inconsistencies such as the number of propellers and camera location compared to a real Reaper MQ9 model.
The 'Tigre TV' building, considered an official outlet of the Tigray rebel authorities, was recently hit by a federal army drone.
Tigre TV is known as the official media outlet of the Tigray rebel authorities, indicating that actual military operations are taking place even amidst the misinformation.
Answers come from the transcript, with the exact spot cited.
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