Footage of 'Huthi rebels pounding US ships in Red Sea' is digital creation

Published on November 21, 2024 at 06:43
3 min read
By AFP Thailand

Yemen's Huthi rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in and around the Red Sea in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. A video shared online in November appearing to show ships hit by missiles, however, is unrelated to the attacks. The blurry footage racked up thousands of shares in Facebook posts that said it showed US navy ships struck by Huthi missiles, but it was in fact taken from a video game called Arma 3.

"This is what happened in the Red Sea," read a Burmese-language Facebook post published on November 10, 2024.

"Yemen was able to attack the US navy and inflicted great losses. Although there was intense fighting in the sea, media from both sides are staying silent. The US's unexpected loss to Huthis forced the US aircraft carriers to turn back."

The video, which garnered more than 2,400 views, appears to show warships at sea struck by projectiles, setting off a flurry of explosions that light up the night sky.

Screenshot of the false post taken on November 20, 2024

Yemen's Huthi rebels targeted two US destroyers with drones and missiles as they transited the Bab al-Mandab Strait, but the warships defeated the attacks, the Pentagon said on November 12 (archived link).

The Huthis began striking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, part of the region-wide fallout from Israel's devastating war in Gaza, which militant groups in multiple countries have cited as justification for attacks.

The video spread in similar Facebook posts in Burmese, English and Thai.

However, the footage was taken from a YouTube channel which publishes content created from the video game Arma 3.

Video game simulation

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the clip in a longer, higher quality YouTube video posted on January 14, 2024 (archived link).

The video is titled: "Instant reaction from Iran! Houthi Cruise Missile sinks US aircraft carrier near Yemen," while the description reads: "NOT real footages, just Arma 3 gameplay".

Arma 3 is a tactical shooter simulation video game developed and published by Czech video game developer Bohemia Interactive, which allows players to customise and generate their own content (archived link).

The video was published on YouTube channel USMC, which regularly posts videos showing military combat created from Arma 3 footage (archived links here and here).

The channel's "About" section indicates the footage used in its videos used content from Arma 3's developer Bohemia Interactive.

The video shared on Facebook was taken from the YouTube video's 10:45 minute mark.

Below is the screenshot comparison of the video shared on Facebook (left) and the USMC's YouTube video (right):

the screenshot comparison of the scene from the false post (left) to the scene from YouTube video (right)

Visual clues in the video also suggest it is computer-generated, including distorted objects, explosions that produce no visible fire or light and jerky camera movements reminiscent of a video game player adjusting the view.

In October 2023, Bohemia Interactive warned on X that the game's footage was being used to spread misinformation around the conflict in the Middle East (archived link).

Dear Arma community,

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:https://t.co/nA8bbuehTX

It’s disheartening for us to see the game we all… pic.twitter.com/9Ha4uNnR2a
— Arma Platform (@ArmaPlatform) October 10, 2023

The post shared tips on identifying video game footage, including paying attention to low-resolution clips, shaky camera work and low-level lighting (archived link).

AFP have previously fact-checked misinformation around Huthi attacks in the Red Sea here and here.