American politics moves fast and so does the world of social media.
On 21 July Joe Biden withdrew from the US presidential race and in doing so endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris to be the next Democratic nominee. Kamala has since won enough support to win the Democratic nomination, but as soon as Biden made his announcement, TikTok, X and other social platforms became awash with posts about Harris.
From fake news and misinformation to real events, we look at some of the biggest stories that have spread online since Biden's withdrawal and help you tell the fact from the fake.
1. “Kamala is not eligible to run for president”
This is false. Following Biden’s endorsement of his vice-president, many posts on X suggested that Kamala wasn't eligible to run for president. Some declared it was because she wasn't born in the United States and others, because her parents weren't born there.
Kamala was born in Oakland, California in 1964 and according to the 14th Amendment of the US constitution, is eligible to serve as president, as she is a "natural born" US citizen. Her parents moved to the US from India and Jamaica, meeting as graduates at the University of California, Berkeley. Similar posts circulated on social media when Barack Obama was running for president.
It's important to be aware of how misinformation and disinformation can be spread on social media.
How to fact-check social media claims:
- Check to see whether the post has a 'community note', where users can flag posts as misleading.
- Look at the comments under the post. Often other users will flag a post they deem fake or misleading.
- Fact-check the claim on a reliable website.
2. Kamala Harris’ campaign embraces ‘brat summer’
This is true. The 'Kamala HQ' X account has embraced the style of Charli XCX’s ‘brat’ album cover. This was all following an endorsement from the singer where she posted ‘kamala IS brat’. Kamala HQ reposted this on TikTok and Instagram, which led to many creating their own Kamala ‘brat summer’ edits on TikTok, many using the song ‘360’, the second single from the ‘brat’ album.
How to fact check a social media rumour:
- Go straight to the source. Check whether this has been posted on official accounts.
- Check to see whether this has been reported on reliable news sites.
3. Kamala’s speech “Today is today. And yesterday was today yesterday”
This is a deepfake. This video of Kamala regained popularity on social media platforms following Joe Biden's announcement that he was no longer standing for the presidency, and has had millions of views. The above clip gives the impression that Harris is rambling, but it's been manipulated.
The deepfake video initially went viral last year, after footage from one of Kamala’s speeches at an abortion rights rally was edited together with audio of an impressionist. At the time, many criticised her original speech, saying it was unclear, which likely led to the viral post.
With photo editing software and AI tools so readily available at our fingertips, it’s now easier than ever to manipulate images and videos.
How to check if a video has been manipulated:
- Check the quality of the clip. Often video clips that have been altered appear blurry or a low quality.
- Question what they are saying and how they sound. Is their speech similar to other videos?
- Track down the original clip on a reliable website or social media account.
4. The Simpsons predicted Kamala Harris' presidency run
Image source, FOXThis isn’t strictly true, although many online are comparing Kamala’s likely presidential run to the season 11 episode of The Simpsons 'Bart to the Future'. In this episode we see Lisa Simpson become president of the United States, following a Donald Trump presidency. In the episode she even says "As you know, we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump”. Comparisons to this episode were also made when Kamala became vice-president and she wore a purple blazer similar to that worn by Lisa Simpson in the episode from March 2000.
The Simpsons has become famous for supposedly predicting world events and this comparison has been even more widely shared following a post by one of The Simpsons showrunners and writers Al Jean who posted a picture of Lisa and Kamala on X, writing ‘@TheSimpsons “prediction” I’m proud to be a part of’. His post on X received 1.1 million views.
How to check if a photo is being used in the correct context:
- This could be tricky to fact check, as neither of the images have actually been manipulated, but it's important to be aware of context. A reverse image search can be used to identify other places on the internet where the photo exists and help to confirm the origins of the image and the original story.
Image source, FOX
Not sure if the news you’re seeing on social media is true or false? Can you always tell if the things you see online are real or fake? Learn how to get the other side of the story with our quizzes, videos and explainers.
