It’s not the first time the game has been mistaken for real-world footage
Widely-shared footage claiming to be of the Ukraine invasion is actually from a video game, it has emerged.
Some of the most-viewed clips on Facebook’s gaming channel have been claiming to show military action in Ukraine, racking up more than 110,00 views and 25,000 shares, Bloomberg reports.
However they were in fact just footage of the realistic tactical shooter game, ArmA III.
One of the most-viewed clips was also shared on Twitter, with the caption: “Ukraine fires missiles to intercept Russian aircraft’s artillery fire”.
This tweet was eventually taken down – but not before it got 11,000 likes and almost 2,000 retweets, according to Kotaku.
Some of this footage on social media reporting to be the conflict in Ukraine I swear is from Arma 3 right? this is tanoa? or am I going crazy. pic.twitter.com/cBlCUV17yH
— sadaplays (@sadaplays) February 24, 2022
It’s not the first time that ArmA III has been confused with real-world events either.
Last year, Reuters found that footage shared online purportedly showing Israel’s defense system shooting at helicopters and planes was in fact from ArmA III.
A few months later, a number of Indian news outlets used footage from the game as evidence that the Pakistan Air Force was helping the Taliban fight Afghan resistance.
Hello @republic, The 'exclusive video' that your team has accessed of Airstrikes at #PanjshirValley is actually from a video game "Arma-3". 🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🙆🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/TG7dJmvsQ9
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 6, 2021
This is once again a useful reminder that as footage is shared on social media, you should always double check its source and whether it has been verified.
Threads such as this one from USA Today‘s Daniel Funke list the fake footage being shared online.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, out-of-context images and videos have circulated widely across social media platforms. Here are some of the claims my team at @USATODAY has debunked. 🧵
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) February 24, 2022
Opportunists are always looking to exploit the chaos in a crisis for quick engagement and shares, and will often post fake footage to do this. Don’t be fooled.
Related links:
- Heartbreaking pictures expose result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- ‘Cancelled’ comedian Louis C.K. still performing in Kyiv despite Russian invasion
- Klitschko brothers to take up arms to defend Ukraine from Russian invasion
