War-themed video game fuels wave of misinformation

Troops battle through burning streets. Missiles take down fighter jets. Drones pulverize tanks. The dramatic visuals have the trappings of real-life combat, but they are clips from video games fuelling misinformation. Footage from the war-themed Arma 3 video game, often marked "live" or "breaking news" to make it appear genuine, has been used repeatedly in recent months in fake videos about the Russian offensive in Ukraine. The frequency and ease with which gaming footage is mistaken as real, even by some media broadcasters, and shared as authentic news on social media highlight what researchers call its serious potential to spread misinformation. The fact that it keeps happening is a reminder of how easy it is to fool people," Claire Wardle, co-director of the Information Futures Lab at Brown University, told AFP. "As video game visuals get more sophisticated, CGI (computer-generated imagery) can, at a quick glance, look real. People need to know how to verify imagery, including looking at metadata so that these mistakes don't get made, especially by newsrooms." Arma 3, whose Czech-based developers promise "true combat game play in a massive military sandbox," allows players to create various battlefield scenarios using aircraft, tanks and a host of weapons. Players often upload hours of gaming footage on platforms such as YouTube and researchers blame its easy availability for its misuse. In the comments under one Arma 3 video titled "Ukraine's counteroffensive!" -– which simulated a missile strike on a column of tanks –- a user, who apparently took it as real, wrote: "We must ask Ukraine after this war to train NATO forces how to fight." (Source AFP)