Thread by @AFPFactCheck, As wildfires continue to spread in the western US, so do false [...]

As wildfires continue to spread in the western US, so do false claims and misleading photos on social media. Here’s a thread to help you separate truth from fiction

False: Forest fires do not stop at the US border: http://u.afp.com/3Rp3

Map of US fires used to cast doubt on cause of infernos

Social media users claim a map showing a wave of wildfires in the US but none in neighboring countries proves climate change is not to blame, with some instead pointing to politically-motivated...

http://u.afp.com/3Rp3

True: Climate Change IS causing an increase in forest fires: http://u.afp.com/3Rpo

Climate change is key factor behind California wildfires

Social media posts claim that wildfires raging through California are due to poor land management, not climate change, echoing comments from US President Donald Trump. The claims are false; while...

http://u.afp.com/3Rpo

False: Antifa arson attacks are not starting the fires: http://u.afp.com/3Rct

False claims of Antifa arson arrests spread online as fires hit Oregon

Social media posts claim members of Antifa, the far-left movement, have been arrested for setting fires in Oregon, a state on the US West Coast hit by devastating wildfires. This is false; law...

http://u.afp.com/3Rct

Keep an eye out for old images claiming to show this year’s fires like this “firenado” video from the UK in 2018: http://u.afp.com/3Rcj

Two of these photos circulated in online reports about a fire in the

Three photos have been shared tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter that claim they show "the first ever firenado in the history of the world" in the US state of...

http://u.afp.com/3Rcj

Or this photo of a Hawaii sunset

: http://u.afp.com/3Rcy

Or even videos of past year’s wildfires like this one from 2017: http://u.afp.com/3RGW

This video has circulated online since December 2017 in reports about

A video of a fire has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim it shows wildfires burning in the US state of California in September 2020. The claim...

http://u.afp.com/3RGW

Some of the photos being spread are from as far back as 2000! http://u.afp.com/3Rpk

Photo of burning forest is from 2000, not 2020 West Coast fires

Social media posts shared in English and Spanish claim to show an image from the 2020 wildfires on the West Coast of the United States. This is false; the photo was taken 20 years earlier in Montana.

http://u.afp.com/3Rpk

Have you seen something you'd like us to verify? Our DMs are open. http://u.afp.com/3RGL

Fact-checking : how we work

As well as traditional journalism skills, we use a number of simple tools to verify online information, some common sense and a lot of caution.

http://u.afp.com/3RGL

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