Video game clips misleadingly shared amid Israel-Hamas war
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on October 11, 2023 at 17:54
- 7 min read
- By AFP USA
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"BREAKING – Hamas militants started a new air assault on parts of Israel !!!" a now made private October 8, 2023 post on X -- formerly known as Twitter -- says, sharing what appears to be missiles launched into the sky at night.
On Facebook, posts claimed to show rocket attacks or helicopters being shot in broad daylight in the hours following the assault on Israel.
The barrage launched by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7 resulted in the deadliest blow on Israel in decades. Israel declared war on Hamas the following day, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning of the start of a sustained campaign to destroy Hamas and "change the Middle East."
Experts told AFP tech platforms are struggling to contain a tsunami of misinformation around the hostilities after rolling back content moderation policies. These clips are among many that proved fake, using animated footage unrelated to the recent onslaught in the region.
Through several reverse image searches on Google, AFP found identical matches for the videos. Most of the clips circulated online before the attack and are attributed to the same source: a video game series called "Arma," developed by independent Czech company Bohemia Interactive (archived here).
The company's public relations manager, Pavel Krizka, said by email on October 10 that a series of videos AFP asked about "were indeed shot in heavily 'modded' (featuring assets and game changing features made by third parties) Arma 3 game."
The video game developer also posted a statement (archived here): "With the tragic events currently unfolding in the Middle East, we feel it is vital to share once again our statement concerning the use of #Arma3 as a source of fake news footage."
The post links to a press release, first issued in November 2022 (archived here), addressing the use of Arma 3 clips in posts falsely claiming to show conflicts, namely the war in Ukraine -- a topic AFP previously fact-checked.
"It's disheartening for us to see the game we all love being used in this way. While we have found ways to tackle this issue somewhat effectively by closely cooperating with leading fact-checking agencies, sadly we can't mitigate it entirely."
Game footage
The night footage can be found on YouTube (archived here), posted on February 21, 2022, with the caption: "MLRS Artillery fire - Barrage - Military Simulation - ArmA 3 #Shorts."
Bohemia Interactive game designer Ivan Buchtasaid in a private message on Twitter on October 9 that the video showed a "MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) launch video" on Arma 3.
The video said to show a rocket attack during the day originated from a Facebook page that says it belongs to a "Gaming video creator." Other videos posted live on Facebook say the account is "playing Arma 3."
The clip of helicopters being shot in daylight can be found on YouTube in an October 3, 2023 post with the caption: "Two combat helicopters shot down by anti aircraft defense - Arma" (archived here).
AFP published a detailed debunking of this footage in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.
Another clip circulating on X -- here and here -- clearly shows signs of computer animation -- in a similar style to what is shown on the Arma 3 website (archived here).
The pixelated, simplistic graphics of the soldier seen in the clip confirm they are not from a real-life conflict.
The landscapes seen in the video also appear to match the graphics seen in Pyrgos, on the fictional island of "Altis," a game location in Arma 3 (archived here and here).
"The shooter is roughly north of Pyrgos - the island with the 'bridge' is characteristic," game designer Buchta said, adding that the launcher seen in the clip is a "semi-fictional" weapon.
Some widely circulated posts on Facebook use animated combat images and mention the war in Israel, but the users acknowledge they were "streaming Arma 3," as highlighted in orange below.
Flight simulation program
Bohemia Interactive's Krizka also pointed out visual clues to help AFP identify that another clip, widely circulating on X, was fabricated.
"The video is definitely not depicting any real-life events and was produced in a video game," he said.
Several searches on Google for keywords including "air," "aviation," "Hamas," "Israel," and "attack" led to the original post of the clip, which gathered millions of views on TikTok.
The person who posted the video states on social media that they specialize in "Digital Combat Simulator videos" (archived here).
Digital Combat Simulator World is developed by Eagle Dynamics, based in Switzerland.
The caption of the TikTok post also makes several mentions that the content was "filmed with Digital Combat Simulator," as highlighted in orange below.
AFP contacted the author of the page on social media for further comment but a response was not forthcoming.
More tips on how to spot flight simulator footage is available here.
Additional reporting on misinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war is available here.
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