Fact-Check Dispatch: Iranian president’s helicopter crash, Danish king waves Palestinian flag, and Harrison Ford’s purported statement on student protests
Issue 4 of the Spotlight Fact-Check Dispatch
Spotlight is a newsletter created by Eurovision News in collaboration with Members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It aims to combat misinformation and promote fact-checking efforts in Europe. The newsletter serves as a platform to showcase the fact-checking work of European public service media broadcasters.
Image purporting to show Iranian president’s helicopter on fire before crash has been manipulated
An image circulating on social media purported to show the helicopter of Iranian President Raisi on fire prior to crashing in a mountainous area near Azerbaijan on May 19.
Examining the photograph, the Eurovision Social Newswire found inconsistencies between the lighting of the helicopter and the terrain in the photograph.
The terrain is also heavily pixilated, while the helicopter also appears relatively high resolution, indicating that that these are potentially two different images.
A further search of the image found an earlier version on the stock video and image website Alamy. However, this version of the image does not include a ball of fire, and the helicopter is fully intact.
The website lists the image as having been captured by Giorgio Calderato on September 9, 2012, in Valdagno, Italy.
Claim that Danish king waved Palestinian flag to pro-Gaza protesters from palace balcony is false
A video was posted to X purporting to show King Frederik X of Denmark waving a Palestinian flag to a crowd of Pro-Gaza protesters from a balcony.
The video was posted on May 12 to an account with some 6000 followers. At the time of writing, it had been viewed 440,100 times, received 4,200 likes and had been reposted 1,100 times. The caption (in French) accompanying the video reads ” The King of Denmark, King Frederik X, waves the Palestinian flag from his balcony as he greets hundreds of protesters demonstrating in Copenhagen in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”
A reverse image search led us to another version of the video in higher resolution posted to TikTok one day before the X version. That video also carries the claim that it is filmed in Denmark, and the Arabic writing claims it’s the Danish king seen in the video.
Footage purported to show clashes outside Eurovision Song Contest is 15 years old
Posts circulating online purported to show Muslim immigrants in Sweden destroying police property because of Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Malmö last weekend.
A reverse image search on the clip revealed that the date and location described in that caption was true. A news report on YouTube featured the same video with the same voiceover, and was described as showing the situation outside the 2009 Davis Cup in Malmö, an event that descended into riots and even has its own Wikipedia page.
Harrison Ford’s purported statement on Gaza student protests is actually from 2019 climate summit
A clip that was posted to TikTok and later reshared on multiple platforms in recent weeks showed Harrison Ford speaking into a microphone.
The clips, which see the actor making a public statement at a podium, were posted with captions suggesting his remarks were about the pro-Palestine protests on college campuses.
Among the oldest we could find was this news clip from Reuters, posted in September 2019, which shows Harrison Ford making a speech about climate change.
Using this information, we were able to find the original source — the full speech made by Harrison Ford at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 — posted on September 23, 2019 to the United Nations YouTube channel.