Fake news and fabricated videos related to the earthquake in Myanmar are rampant.

Spreading sensational images and fabricated rescue stories is how unscrupulous individuals exploit the panic following the disaster in Myanmar for illicit gain.

Activists and tech experts say that since the powerful earthquake in Myanmar last month, fake news and fabricated videos have been rampant on social media.

It's worth noting that much of this content is disseminated for the purpose of profiting from advertising revenue.

Typical examples of this phenomenon include the spread of sensational images and fabricated rescue stories.

This is how malicious actors exploit the panic and need for information after a disaster to spread misinformation for personal gain.

Darrell West, a senior research fellow at the Brookings Institute (USA), warns people to be wary of those who are making money from spreading misinformation on social media.

The Digital Insight Lab, a group that operates Facebook pages aimed at combating misinformation and hate speech in Myanmar, said it has discovered numerous posts spreading false information about the extent of damage and destruction caused by the earthquake in the Southeast Asian country.

Among this content are videos filmed in Syria, Malaysia, or created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A member of the research team stated that much of this misinformation is the product of reusing images and videos from other disasters or fabricating stories using AI technology.

According to digital technology experts, the spread of fake news after disasters is quite common on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, ranging from using images with misleading captions to fake videos of rescue operations, causing panic in the community.

Jeanette Elsworth, head of communications at the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), said: “Misinformation can cause panic, stall evacuation or rescue operations, or erode public trust in authorities when deploying emergency response. The consequences can then be devastating.”

According to Myanmar media, the death toll from the earthquake on March 28 has exceeded 3,600, while more than 5,000 were injured and hundreds remain missing.

The spread of misinformation following disasters has become quite common on social media platforms in recent years.

When Hurricane Helene devastated the United States last year, there were false rumors circulating on social media regarding the government's use of relief funds.

Following the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria in 2023, many individuals shared videos on social media depicting previous tsunami disasters in Japan and Greenland, falsely claiming they were footage from the scene of the recent disaster.

A 2021 study found that websites spreading misinformation could earn up to $2.6 billion a year from advertising.

This research was conducted by NewsGuard – a tool that helps assess the credibility of websites and the reliability of online information – and Comscore – a global media analytics and evaluation company.

(VNA/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tran-lan-tin-gia-va-video-bia-dat-lien-quan-tran-dong-dat-tai-myanmar-post1027019.vnp