How to spot ‘cheapfakes’ online, according to 2 misinformation experts

Recent headlines warn of sophisticated, AI-driven deepfakes, but it’s low-tech ‘cheapfakes’ that are fueling the latest round of disinformation.

Someone tracking the conflict raging in the Middle East could have seen the following two videos on social media. The first shows a little boy hovering over his father’s dead body, whimpering in Arabic, “Don’t leave me.” The second purports to show a pregnant woman with her abdomen slashed open and claims to document the testimony of a paramedic who handled victims’ bodies after Hamas’s attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.