The conflict between Yemen's Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia has sharply escalated in recent days, with Houthi forces making rapid gains along the Red Sea coast and taking control of key areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes. Houthi forces have launched drones and missiles towards Saudi territory.
The renewed fighting has also raised concerns about global trade via the Red Sea. The conflict has also spread online, where significant disinformation has circulated. DW's fact-checking team examined what is circulating and why a conflict that is so hard to observe independently leaves so much room for this kind of disinformation.
One nine-second clip has gone viral. It shows a huge explosion between buildings, with fireballs and screaming in the background. Claim: A user posted the video on X with the Arabic caption "Yemeni forces are carrying out the strongest strikes in various areas in Saudi Arabia, including Abha." The video has more than 340,000 views.
It was also posted in other languages, falsely claiming that it showed real footage from the current fighting. The video is not only old, but also artificially generated. There are several visual clues in the clip such as the pattern of the explosions and the uniform way the smoke spreads.
A large-scale explosion of this kind would also have generated a very bright flash, and nearby buildings would likely have collapsed or at least had their windows shattered. Neither appears to have happened. One can also see, in the final seconds of the video, how a lamppost appears out of nowhere in the middle of the frame.
The audio is mostly unintelligible, but the speaker's tone does not appear to change after the huge explosion. Such a large explosion would normally be expected to trigger some audible reaction in the speaker's voice. On the technical side, Hive Moderation's AI detection analysis also confirmed that the video was artificially generated.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
