THREAD A month ago this video went viral. Migrants were said to be deliberately harming children to win sympathy. We analysed the video, rebutted the false claim & confronted media spreading it.

First up, how do we know it's been a false claim? This video explains:

Our analysis confirms the location: Pazarkule border crossing between Turkey-Greece. The video is shot on a day that Greek and Turkish police fired teargas at migrants

Translating the audio (Farsi can be heard) suggests people are desperately trying to help the toddler who is affected by teargas: ‘Take her to the emergency!”

It’s widely believed that smoke can ease the effects of teargas. It’s a common tactic among protest groups. We documented many other examples of the same practice.

The way that the video is presented by @AmyMek , ie that refugees are deliberately harming children, is false.

The false version has been viewed millions of times. Here’s a sample of the responses we got when we confronted some of those sharers with the proof of their mistake. They ranged from constructive to evasive to downright dumb.

Belgian right-wingers Flemish Interest @vlbelang took down the video when we confronted them: “We try to ban fake news. We’ll check sources now more than ever. We apologise for sharing this questionable video.”

. @Skoften, a Dutch video platform, said they shared it because there are two ways to look at it? There aren't. Video still online, but with a disclaimer that we've proven it's actually fake news. https://www.skoften.net/skft/593635/dit-is-hoe-propaganda-werkt-kinderen-geslagen-in-rook-gehangen-om-ze-te-laten-huilen

Francesca Totolo ( @francescatotolo), an Italian journalist associated with far-right group CasaPound, shared the video on Twitter and later deleted her tweet. Not because she isn't supporting the message anymore, but because ‘some accounts were reporting her.’

Platform Bitchute evaded responsibility by referring to their community guidelines. But these guidelines clearly state: “do not produce misleading descriptions." So what's the problem @bitchute ?

Finally, InfoWars (banned from Twitter) didn't respond & the Dutch extreme right website Fenixx responded: “No interest in mainstream media, make up something yourself.”

This investigation was a co-production between @LHReports and @pointer_kroncrv and part of the #bordersnewsroom which combines field reporting with OSINT verification.

Among the outlets who haven't responded are Greek channels @ANT1TV & @MegaTvOfficial who both aired this misinformation on prime time television on Mar 8. Perhaps they'll explain why not?

Ανάμεσα στα μέσα ενημέρωσης που δεν απάντησαν είναι τα Ελληνικά @ANT1TV & @MegaTVOfficial που και οι δύο έπαιξαν αυτή την παραπληροφόρηση σε ζώνη υψηλής τηλεθέασης στις 8 Μαρτίου. Ίσως μπορούν να εξηγήσουν γιατί;