Popular online videos about saving our little brothers are gaining millions of views. But many do not even know what is hidden behind the touching shots.
Social media users watch with excitement on Youtube or TikTok how a dog tied to rails is rescued at the last moment or watching a stupid puppy fight with a poisonous snake. And every time, at the most necessary moment, a savior appears, who is mentally applauded and generously put likes.
Do you know asks Euronews, that most of these commercials are staged? One can only guess what cute little animals are experiencing in such an extreme situation. Nina Jakel is a specialist in tracking social media videos with cruelty to animals. She says:
“One of the trends we’ve been seeing lately is ‘rescue’ puppies, where dogs are put in dangerous and even horrific situations. For example, a dog is hung from a tree with duct tape and someone stumbles on it. Then you can see the same dog in another video, this time tied to a railroad track, or stuck in a pit, or in some other equally horrific situation.It is very common to see the same animals being used over and over again, which is one way to identify a suspicious channel. And these situations are extremely unlikely, but at the same time, the creators of the videos encounter them again and again. It happens that a real rescue service stumbles upon an animal that is in desperate need of help. Sometimes! But not all the time. And if this is the only thing that the channel publishes, then this is a sure sign that this is a channel with fakes.”
However, most social media users are very gullible, they sincerely believe that the scenarios are quite real. Why do people put animals in such dangerous, harmful and disturbing situations in every way? After all, fake rescue videos can cause serious physical and psychological harm to all animals involved.
The answer is obvious and banal: to get the most clicks and earn money. By posting something on social networks that gets millions of clicks, you can earn thousands of euros.
Two years ago, in March 2021, YouTube announced that it would remove fake animal rescue videos. But… Since then, more than a hundred new ones have been published, and hundreds of the old ones have not been removed, according to data from the California-based nonprofit animal welfare organization Lady Freethinker. What can you do if you see one of the video fakes? Nina Jakel advises:
“First of all, report it using the online alert system. As hard as it is not to share, don’t do it! I know we have this instinct, the desire to show everyone: ‘Look, look at this terrible video.’ But when you do that, you’re actually giving them views, potentially making them more money.You’re also helping change the algorithm so that other people can see the videos they suggest.So don’t share!If you can, don’t even watch.If someone shares one of these videos with you, don’t hit the play button, you need to interact with the video as little as possible, but at the same time report it through the platform.”
If you would like to learn more about fact checking and investigations, please visit euronews.com.
Now try to determine how reliable the following frames are:
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