Can You Spot the Fakes?

A giant frog sits motionless on a table. Then suddenly, without warning, it pounces. The frog pulls half a banana into its enormous mouth. In the blink of an eye, everything but the peel is gone. 

Dumpy, that hungry amphibian, racked up millions of views on TikTok last fall—but not because of its appetite. People were wowed by its size. Australian tree frogs are usually only 4 to 5 inches long, and this one looked as big as a football!

After the frog went viral, its Minnesota-based owner came clean. He admitted to editing the video to make his pet look like a giant—all for social media views. 

Dumpy’s altered footage was harmless fun. But it is an example of a growing problem: Misleading videos are on the rise—and they’re becoming increasingly hard to spot. 

On TikTok, about 20 percent of videos on news topics contain inaccurate information, according to NewsGuard. That group tracks the trustworthiness of online content. And while some manipulated videos are created for entertainment, others have a darker intent: to deliberately mislead people and spread false information.  

That’s a big problem because watching videos can fool our brains into feeling like we witnessed the content firsthand. And that feeling makes us more likely to trust videos, says Anya Williams, 17. She is a teen fact-checker for MediaWise, a group that teaches people how to spot false information online. 

“We have a tendency to believe in what we’re watching because we’re seeing it with our own eyes,” Anya explains. As a result, she says, videos can “influence our thoughts and our decisions.”

A giant frog sits on a table. It is very still. Suddenly, without warning, it pounces. The frog pulls half a banana into its huge mouth. In the blink of an eye, everything but the peel is gone.

That hungry amphibian is named Dumpy. It racked up millions of views on TikTok last fall. But not because of its appetite. People were wowed by its size. Australian tree frogs are usually only 4 to 5 inches long. This one looked as big as a football!

The frog went viral. Then its Minnesota-based owner came clean. He admitted he had edited the video to make his pet look like a giant. He did it to get social media views.

Dumpy’s altered footage was harmless fun. But it is an example of a growing problem: Misleading videos are on the rise. And they are becoming increasingly hard to spot.

On TikTok, about 20 percent of videos on news topics contain inaccurate information. That is according to NewsGuard, a group that tracks the trustworthiness of online content. Some manipulated videos are created for entertainment. But others have a darker intent: to mislead people on purpose and spread false information.

That is a big problem. The reason: Watching videos can fool our brains into feeling like we witnessed the content firsthand. And that feeling makes us more likely to trust videos, says Anya Williams, 17. She is a teen fact-checker for MediaWise. That group teaches people how to spot false information online.

“We have a tendency to believe in what we’re watching because we’re seeing it with our own eyes,” Anya explains. As a result, she says, videos can “influence our thoughts and our decisions.”

One of the best ways to fight back against fake videos is not to share them. But figuring out which ones are altered can be hard, especially because so many videos are uploaded every second. 

Google and other tech companies are developing tools to detect altered videos. Fact-checkers like Anya are also working to call out false content. 

You can be part of the solution too, experts say. Don’t repost every video you see. Instead, think critically about a video’s content first.

Pay attention to details, such as inconsistencies in lighting and shadows, which can indicate that a clip has been edited. Unusual facial or body movements are also red flags, says Anya. 

Listen for speech that seems too fast or too slow, an unnatural-sounding voice, or audio that doesn’t line up with the speaker’s mouth.  

Be wary if a video makes you feel angry or scared, says Erin Olson, a media expert with the News Literacy Project. Creators try to spark strong feelings because an emotional response increases the likelihood that a viewer will share a video without thinking. And the more people who share a video, the more people who can be influenced by it.

Finally, think about how the video affected you—and might influence other people. If you have any doubts about its accuracy, don’t pass it on.

One of the best ways to fight back against fake videos is not to share them. But figuring out which ones are altered can be hard. It is especially tough because so many videos are uploaded every second.

Google and other tech companies are developing tools to detect altered videos. Fact-checkers like Anya are also working to call out false content.

You can be part of the solution too, experts say. Do not repost every video you see. Instead, start by thinking critically about a video’s content.

Pay attention to details, such as inconsistencies in lighting and shadows. They can indicate that a clip has been edited. Unusual facial or body movements are also red flags, says Anya.

Listen for speech that seems too fast or too slow. Check for an unnatural-sounding voice, or audio that does not line up with the speaker’s mouth.

Be cautious if a video makes you feel angry or scared, says Erin Olson. She is a media expert with the News Literacy Project. Creators try to spark strong feelings. That is because an emotional response makes it more likely that a viewer will share a video without thinking. And the more people who share a video, the greater the number who can be influenced by it.

Finally, think about how the video affected you. And consider how it might influence other people. Have any doubts about its accuracy? Then do not pass it on.