Ukraine war footage being shared on social media is from video games

Footage from video games such as ArmA III and DCS: World have been spread on social media claiming to be footage from the Ukraine war.

As reported by Bloomberg, Facebook, recently rebranded as Meta, has been struggling to verify footage and claims being spread on the social media platform surrounding the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Head of Meta’s security Nathaniel Gleicher claims that a special task force is in place via Twitter:

“In response to the unfolding military conflict in Ukraine, we have established a Special Operations Center to respond in real time. It is staffed by experts (including native speakers) so we can closely monitor the situation and act as fast as possible.”

Despite this footage from war game ArmA III had more than 110,000 concurrent viewers on the platform claiming to be from the war in Ukraine. The footage has since been removed. Despite being from a game the footage can look very realistic and is sometimes edited to make it look as if it’s being reported via the news.

IGN has also reported similar footage found on Twitter. Footage shared by Ukraine’s defence force’s official Twitter account is reportedly also from a video game. The game DCS: World is a realistic flight simulator. The footage, seen above, has again been edited with voice overs to appear more realistic.

Twitter is also trying to combat the spread of misinformation with tags on some tweets and videos. With the situation developing every day it is increasingly easy to be fooled by misinformation spread on social media. While sources may seem to be legitimate it is important to verify all information you receive before spreading it further.

In other news, developer Ubisoft, which has two offices in Ukraine, has provided financial aid and alternate housing in neighbouring countries for its employees in those branches.