Proving a photo is fake is one thing. Proving it isn’t is another
But, for the reporting of war crimes, it matters
That truth is the first casualty of war is an old aphorism. One recent instance is the proliferation of images and videos of things that did not happen, in wars such as those currently going on in Ukraine and Syria. Some of these are outright fakes. Others are manipulated versions of honestly recorded material. Last year a doctored video appeared of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, apparently telling Ukrainian soldiers to surrender.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “What is truth?”
From the January 14th 2023 edition
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