Tag Archive for: #SocialMedia

Explainer: Using TinEye; Essential for Fact Checkers

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TinEye is an image search and recognition company with experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks and machine learning with a mission to make images searchable.

By #defyhatenow Cameroon

Social media has made it easier to share memories, pictures, and communication across distances. Even the most basic social media sites have enabled users to upload photos, share information about themselves and make friends. 

According to a publication on Social Media today; Social media dates back as far as the early 1840s.  The first recognizable social media site, “Six Degrees”, was created in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. 

In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still popular to this day. As years have passed, an increasing number of social media platforms and sites such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn among others have come up. 

These sites have attracted billions of users for diverse reasons. With the increase of user numbers on these platforms there has been a rise in the propagation of misinformation, disinformation, malinformation and Hate Speech. 

When the term “fake news” comes up, people think of social media posts with rather implausible stories. While posts shared on social media are the most visible aspect of it, there is so much more to fake news than exaggerated article titles on social media feeds. Given that “fake news” is often spread with the use of texts, images, videos, animated graphics, fact checkers have resorted to using open source platforms for verification to debunk “fake news”. 

Some of these open source platforms include; TinEye, Yandex, RevEye, Reverse Image Search, Google Reverse Image Search, Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer, Google Advanced Image search, Forensically among others. 

We will delve into dissecting TinEye.

Functions, Features and Methodology

TinEye is an image search and recognition company with experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks and machine learning with a mission to make images searchable.

It has a feature known as Compare Feature that lets you quickly switch back and forth between your search and result image by highlighting any differences between the two images. It’s especially useful to see how images have been cropped, resized, skewed or manipulated.Today, 

TinEye’s image recognition is used by millions of people and powers billions of searches across a wide range of industries. TinEye is privately owned, profitable and its revenues are generated by its clients. Using TinEye, one can search for detailed information on an image or perform a reverse image search. This can be done by uploading an image or searching by URL (Uniform Resource Locator), the address of a World Wide Web page. You can also simply drag and drop your images in the search box to start your search.TinEye constantly crawls the web and adds images to its index. 

Today, the TinEye index has over 41.9 billion images. To check about an image, you can upload it from your computer or mobile device by clicking the upload button to locate the image you wish to search for. To search by URL, simply copy and paste an image URL address into the search box. One can as well drag an image from a tab in his/her browser and drop it in a browser tab where TinEye is open.Lastly, it’s possible to simply Copy and Paste an image from your clipboard.

How to use Tineye to search for an image

You can search for an image with TinEye in three ways:

  • by drag and drop
  • by uploading an image
  • by giving TinEye a URL (this can be a page URL or an image URL)

The easiest way to search with TinEye is to drag and drop an image onto the TinEye webpage in your browser.

To search by uploading an image, just click the upload button (blue arrow in a circle) to select from your computer or device the image you’d like to search with.

You can search with a web address (URL) by simply copying the link into the search box on Tineye. 

Below are some YouTube videos on how to use TinEye in identifying a doctored image.

How to use Tineye: https://www.youtube.com/embed/XemlN-B7w38?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&rel=0

How to use Tineye identifying a doctored image: https://www.youtube.com/embed/I3Sbihz4vpI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&rel=0 

Most images found online are protected by copyright and should you like to use any image found through TinEye, you will need to find the image owner and contact them directly. 

Unless an image is identified as a public domain image, you need to ensure that you get in touch with any image copyright holder and secure the rights to use the image you have found. 

Unfortunately, in South Sudan, because of the weak legal system in the country, image copyrights are greatly abused as individuals, institutions and other reputable bodies extract people’s images from the internet and use them without their consent.

TinEye can be used to find out where an image came from or get more information about it and research or track the appearance of an image online. One can also find higher resolution versions of an image, locate web pages that make use of an image, discover modified or edited versions of an image, debunk an image or help with attribution.

Access wise, there is a paid and free version of TinEye. The former allows for virtually unlimited search by prepaid bundles while the latter gives room for one to do 100 searches per day and up to 300 per week.

Conclusion:

TinEye is a peculiar and unique search engine in that this technology takes an image file and goes through the internet scanning it with the help of crawlers and making sure it looks for matched images or the source of the image as inserted or based on the option one has input in the search bar. Given the fact that it possesses a Reverse Image Search option or Reverse Search Engine, it is used to find plagiarised work, lost connections, suspicious characters and much more. 

Recommendations To Journalists:

  • TinEye is an effective open source image search engine. Journalists can therefore use it amidst others mentioned above to be able to minimize the spread of images of doubtful origin.

To Tineye:

  • Tineye should find a way to alert its clients when their content is being used.
  • There should be sensitization on the application and its usage so that many more people can easily use the app.
  • Some images are not copyright protected and there are difficulties tracing the originator. Tineye may find a way to protect these images.
  • Tineye should make it possible to search images greater than 10mb.

Fact-check: These photos do not show ammunition confiscated by the national security yesterday

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By 211 Check Desk

Photos shared on Facebook and WhatsApp of a massive amount of ammunition and guns being transported in a casket allegedly to Pibor have been found to be FALSE.

Misleading Facebook Post

A google reverse image search on the photos show that in 2016, the photos were circulated in Nigeria media depicting a massive amount of weaponry and ammunition allegedly concealed in a casket.

It was falsely reported that a Nigerian army unit had intercepted an arms trafficking syndicate travelling between Ondo and Lagos States.

At that time, Nigeria army spokesperson said the photos were actually taken from a training exercise in 2012.

“The photos circulating were taken from a training exercise held in 2012 and it is normal to have other security agencies represented in all internal security trainings at schools or in barracks by army units,” Nigerian Army spokesman SK Usman told the Sahara Reporters on 30th March 2016.

There have also been no credible media reports in South Sudan about the photos as of Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

Conclusion:

211 Check has looked into photos allegedly of members of South Sudan national security confiscating ammunition being transported to Pibor and finds them to be FALSE

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

This image is not of a boy being sold in Sherikat, Juba211 Check

Fact-Check: This picture of a three year old boy for sale wrapped inside a rice bag is not from Sherikhat, Juba

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The picture is of an incident where a man was apprehended by the Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State after he was caught trying to sell his 3-year-old son

By 211 Check Desk

A Facebook post on Sunday, 12th December 2021 claiming that a man was caught in Sherikhat, Juba trying to sell his three year old boy wrapped inside a rice bag is FALSE

“Father was caught in Sherikhat while he was trying to sell his (3) years old son,” the post reads in part.

Misleading Post of a Boy for Sale in Sherikhat

Findings:

However, a reverse image search of the photo in the post returned several stories in September 2021 using the same picture, but of an incident that happened in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

“A yet to be identified man has been apprehended by the Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State after he was caught trying to sell his 3-year-old son,” reports The Paradise on September 8th, 2021

THE PARADISE gathered that the man put the child inside a rice bag and was transporting it to where he wanted to go and sell it before he was caught.

When contacted by 211 Check police in Juba say they are not aware of such an incident as alleged on Facebook.

Conclusion

211 Check finds a picture allegedly of a three year old boy for sale wrapped in a rice bag to be FALSE

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

Misleading Article Being Shared Online

Fact-Check: An article allegedly written by Louis Anei is FALSE

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211 Check Editorial Desk

An article titled “Kiir Mayar has openly shown us how much he hates his own voters in Greater Tonj by imposing his political tool Aleu Ayieny Aleu” allegedly written by Ustaz Louis Anei Madut is FALSE

The article that goes on to list about 10 points has since been dismissed by Ustaz Louis Anei Madut himself.

FALSE article being circulated in WhatsApp groups

In a Facebook post, Ustaz Louis Anei Madut said, “The purported article said to have been written by me is false! This is a concoction from my political enemies who want to put me deep into the grave but God is there alive.”

“I wish it was to be investigated as to who is the source, meanwhile I’m on my way to the village for social issues. I have nothing to do with those political concoctions.”

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

Bentiu tv Misleading Image

Fact-Check: Do these pictures show livestock killed by floods in Bentiu? No

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These pictures showing livestock allegedly killed by floods in Bentiu, Unity State are misleading

By 211 Check Editorial Team

Pictures shared by Bentiu tv, a Facebook page with the caption, “This is how flood kills livestock in Bentiu” are FALSE

Reverse image search of the pictures leads to a story published by the Star Kenya two days ago in which raging water as a result of heavy rains at the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania killed livestock in Kenya’s Taita Taveta county.

Conclusion:

The images do not show livestock killed by floods in Bentiu, Unity State. They instead show livestock killed in Taita Taveta county, Kenya.

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

JOSEPHINE JOSEPH LAGU SCAM (1)211 Check

Scam Alert: The Business Opportunity on the Facebook Page “Josephine Joseph Lagu Foundation” is a Hoax

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When contacted by 211 Check Josephine Joseph Lagu who is the current minister for Agriculture and Food Security, said the business opportunity is fake and that she has not set up any foundation

By 211 Check Editorial Team

There is an ongoing fake business opportunity being run in a Facebook ad on a page named “Josephine Joseph Lagu Foundation.”

The post claims that following a successful Trade deal between the so called Josephine Joseph Lagu Foundation and the Commonwealth, they had signed a Trade and Investment Agreement to sponsor and invest in small and medium enterprises across South Sudan

Here is the full text:

“Business Sponsorship Opportunity!

Following a successful Trade deal between our Foundation and the Commonwealth, We have signed a Trade and Investment Agreement to sponsor and invest in small and medium enterprises across the country. This investment is aimed at supporting farmers and businessmen to cope with the changing global trends. If you want our foundation to invest in your business/farm kindly read more details and apply via link: https://tinyurl.com/5zbpt95p”

Fake Business Opportunity Post

The post then directs people to click on a link that takes them to the following google form requesting personal information among others:

Google Form of the Fake Business Opportunity

Findings:

211 Check made an investigation and found the following:

The Facebook Page was created yesterday, Friday, 12th November 2021 and immediately ran a paid Facebook ad. Opportunities on new platforms on any digital space are highly suspicious.

We contacted Josephine Joseph Lagu who is the current minister for Agriculture and Food Security, but she denied owning a foundation or being aware of one in her name.

“The business opportunity being run in my name is fake. I have not set up any foundation, neither am I aware of any in my name,” Josephine Lagu told 211 Check Saturday morning.

Conclusion:

The business opportunity being run on the Facebook Page Josephine Joseph Lagu Foundation is a SCAM. There is no legal Foundation named Josephine Joseph Lagu in South Sudan. 

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

October 2021 South Sudan Social Media Health Report211 Check

South Sudan Social Media Health Report – October 2021

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Most online discussions among South Sudanese continue to happen mainly on Facebook and WhatsApp groups. It is also clear that digital natives are more interested in social issues around music, sports and comedy rather than politics and/or conspiracies.

A 211 Check, Defy Hate Now South Sudan Report

Introduction:

This social media health report is based on data collected during working days from October 1st to October 31st, 2021. The major goal of the report is to examine the main and most talked about conversations on various social media platforms. 

The report as well studies the overall dynamics of hate speech, dis/misinformation and incitement to violence contents shared by South Sudanese online and foreign nationals related to South Sudanese regardless of being situated within the country or abroad – the study also looks at South Sudan’s digital and social media landscape and growth. 

This month’s monitoring comprises an overall assessment of top Facebook pages, groups, Instagram Accounts and Twitter Handles using CrowdTangle, Vicinitas and other social media monitoring techniques. Report’s key topics are identified based on the level of participation and the amount of attention it receives on social media.

In the October 2021 reporting period, 122 of 196 pages published posts in the current timeframe for a total of 1,725 posts and an average of 2.02 posts/day. 

Compared to the previous time frame, interactions were -24.45%. 

Key issues of the month – Facebook:

  1. Foreign Ministry sets exams for candidates wishing to be enrolled into foreign service.

The Ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation conducted entry examinations for candidates enrolling into foreign service. The move is said to have come after the government said some employees are obtaining certificates through fraudulent means.

The post shared by Nyamilepedia on Facebook got over 610 reactions, 95 comments and 28 shares. Many commentators raised doubts with some saying there is possibility that the examinations “were leaked” while others wondered why in the first place they didn’t see advertisements for the enrollment.

  1. Emmanuel Jal visits Juba

Emmanuel Jal, a South Sudanese recording artist based in Canada arrived in Juba in the last week of October to a warm welcome by family members. In a video he shared on his Facebook page, there were 65,000 views, over 2,700 reactions, 263 comments and 89 shares. The comments were mainly thanking him for coming home and others asked for a charity concern so he can perform his songs.

  1. What is stopping you from marrying a dinka?

A question by Juba TV “What is stopping you from marrying a dinka?” generated a huge debate in the comments section – some of which constitutes hate speech against certain tribes. The post had 665 reactions, 309 comments and 10 shares.

  1. Motivational Post from Max Jay

Max Jay, a South Sudanese artist, posted “God always got you” giving the example of a Rwandan who was once called a monkey. His Facebook post got over 23,000 reactions, 1,300 comments and 449 shares.

Many commentators expressed sympathy and how merciful God is.

  1. A reflection of the Mundari Culture

Visit South Sudan shared a photo captioned “Mundari culture, friendly people” in which a white lady posed for a picture with some Mundari ladies. The post attracted 6,000 reactions, 192 comments and 77 shares. Many comments were appreciative about how the Mundari people continue to uphold their culture.

  1. Ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines for all in South Sudan

UNICEF reflects its efforts to encourage women to get vaccinated. UNICEF says it was working with partners to dispel rumors and to create a demand for vaccines.

The Facebook post attracted 8,300 reactions, 123 comments and 37 shares. 

There were some cases of vaccine misinformation in the comments section.

  1. Silver X meets Vice President Wani Igga at a youth peace camp

South Sudan Singer Silver X meets Vice President Wani Igga at a youth peace camp in Lobonok. 

  1. South Sudan Football Association expresses hopes of winning

South Sudan Football Association Coach Simon James Yor tells fans that they are hopeful of securing a win against Gambia following a bad start in their first two matches of the competition.

Key issues of the month – Instagram:

  1. MTN CEO meets President Salva Kiir

On Instagram, one of the leading posts of the month was President Kiir’s meeting with MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas and CEO Ralph Mupita in which they promised to invest $120m in capital ventures in the next three years.

  1. Acacia village welcomes hospitality trainees

A picture shared by the Acacia village welcoming their three hospitality trainees in the hotel sector.

  1. South Sudanese Model, Monica Ayen wins Eric Omondi’s wife material show

Monica Ayen, a South Sudanese Model wins Kenyan Comedian Eric Omondi’s wife material season 3. The post by Hot in Juba has over 350 interactions and a few comments.

  1. Emmanuel Jal comes to Juba

Emmanuel Jal, a South Sudanese recording artist based in Canada arrived in Juba in the last week of October to a warm welcome by family members. In a video he shared on his Instagram had 2,151 views and about 45 comments.

Key issues of the month – Twitter:

On Twitter, where South Sudan has a small number of users, about 718 handles in the last 10 days of October made 2,000 posts with an engagement of 7,000 and influence of 4.3 million.

Screen capture of the #SSOT word cloud. The most used words are in bold.

Our analysis found out that most of the posts by South Sudanese on Twitter are retweets constituting about 68.6%. About 29.6% are original tweets while 1.82% are replies.

The type of rich media used are photos constituting upto 95.8%

Screen Capture showing the types of post and rich media respectively

#SSOT, remains the most popular hashtag among South Sudanese on Twitter followed by #SouthSudan

Screen Capture of Leading Hashtags and User mentions

Analysis

Most online discussions among South Sudanese continue to happen mainly on Facebook and WhatsApp groups. It is also clear that digital natives are more interested in social issues around music, sports and comedy rather than politics and/or conspiracies.

Instagram and Twitter: The number of South Sudanese on Instagram and Twitter continues to be really low. Most of the interesting and engaging discussions around South Sudan topics happen on Facebook and in WhatsApp groups. On Twitter South Sudan content is unified by the hashtags #SSOT and #SouthSudan. The word cloud above clearly gives an indication of the dominating discussions on Twitter.

Conclusion:

Using advanced social media monitoring methods, conversation, and content analysis, this report analyzed online hate speech, misinformation and fake news in South Sudan. 

According to the month-long assessment report, contemporary social media behavior is becoming a severe worry. Hate speech can be found not just in postings, but also in comment sections.

Furthermore, the study discovered that what individuals are talking about and sharing on social media overlaps. People are exposed to a variety of realities, and as a result, they express varying viewpoints and instead of being honest and having a reasonable dialogue, social media users prefer to utilize slurs and incendiary phrases. 

As a result, the report identified that overall social media involvement is widely healthy, with minimal nasty content and calls for violence being produced and disseminated. 

The 211 Check team also observed that mainstream media was not involved in the spread of conspiracies but employed  conflict-sensitive reporting practices. However, this is the moment for all stakeholders to address key issues before they become a source of unanticipated events.  

End…. 

Social Media Impersonation Poster211 Check

EXPLAINER: All You Need to Know About “Social Media Impersonation”

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As technology continues to become a part of our day-to-day life, social media impersonation attempts by malicious actors are also far from coming to a halt but rather becoming more sophisticated in nature.

By Vukeni Innocent Joseph 

When we think about impersonation, the first thing that comes to mind is an act of deception. Impersonation schemes have become more common and deadly in South Sudan in recent months.

Impersonation scams are acts of manipulation carried out by cyber criminals or threat actors in order to achieve their goals, which may include cyber bullying, harassment, financial gain, or a need for personal or confidential information from the target, by duping them into believing the scammer is genuine or someone they know.

Due to a large online presence, which is further a result of the embracement of technology, the most common type of impersonation occurs on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and even through emails. As a result, impersonators have more freedom to carry out their actions.

Threat actors impersonate a trustworthy entity or individual on social media to entice their victims. This is accomplished by a technique known as social engineering, in which the fraudster poses as someone else in order to deceive the victim.

Impersonators come across as intelligent actors in their actions simply because they thoroughly investigate their targets on social media to gain vital information about them, such as hobbies, mutual friends, and favorite hangouts. Surprisingly, all of this information is readily available through the posts we make on our social media accounts in the form of images, status updates, and unfettered biographic information, which scammers exploit for nefarious purposes.

An impersonator searching for your Facebook profile and reading through it for information that would be of interest to them, which they can use to carry out impersonation, is a common example. The impostor could carry out their fraud in two ways utilizing the information they collect from your page: setting up as a new Facebook user with the victim’s identity and uploads (profile and cover photographs), and then using this phony page to entice your friends, coworkers, or family members. Alternatively, the impostor could create an account in your name and deceive you by imitating a friend, coworker, or family member.

As technology continues to become a part of our day-to-day life, social media impersonation attempts by malicious actors are also far from coming to a halt but rather becoming more sophisticated in nature. 

However, we can mitigate this cyber crime or malicious act by following and adhering to some basic best practices while on the internet, and these include;

● Being cautious of the information we post on social media or limiting the information we avail on our accounts for example, our phone numbers, date of birth and address where we reside, as they may contain too many details which a scammer could use to their advantage.

● Do not use the same login credentials on two or more social media accounts. This would mean that if your login credentials get to be known, a cyber criminal could take your social media accounts hence denying you access. It is also good practise to use password managers to manage your login credentials for multiple accounts online.

● Do not click random suspicious links sent on social media and be keen to know the source of the link, as this could also be an entry point for malware such as spyware or viruses on your phones or computers

● Verify the genuineness of social media accounts that may want to engage with you, making sure that the source of any kind of communication or advert is known to you.

● Endeavor to report cases of impersonation to SafetyComm South Sudan which will aid in verification of false accounts and also have those accounts taken down from the internet.