An embarrassing mistake or a fake?
This video is said to show how US President Joe Biden bestows the “Medal of Honor” on a Vietnam veteran – and puts it on his back instead of on his chest.
Numerous users share the clip on social media. The video is viewed millions of times.
But what is the clip all about? Did Biden actually make a mistake in receiving the US government’s top military honor?
The video of the alleged blunder is a fake.
Numerous high-resolution photos and videos of the ceremony show Biden correctly presenting the man with the Medal of Honor.
The bad picture quality of the manipulated video is an indication that the clip was digitally reworked. Counterfeiters intentionally reduce the quality of their fakes to disguise the manipulation.
In terms of content, the fake takes the same line as numerous manipulations before it: Biden is old and confused and not up to his job.
The clip shows that digitally manipulated footage can be used to twist facts on social media. A regular veteran honor in the White House turns into a supposedly gross blunder by the US President.
How do we check videos for manipulation in the editorial office? It is important to look at the details. The individual frames of a video often reveal whether a video has been edited. We take a close look at each image and enlarge individual sections. Indications of a fake are, for example: lack of motion blur, unnatural shadows or editing errors. The general rule at stern is: Seriousness before speed. We always double-check facts and material thoroughly before publishing them. For this we work with the cross-editorial “Team Verification” together with RTL, NTV, RTL2, Radio NRW.