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The claim: A news clip shows proof of crisis actors in Germany
An Austrian television clip has gained traction on social media, where some falsely claim it shows evidence of crisis actors.
The partial television segment shows a reporter speaking in front of several dozen body bags. As he speaks, a person takes out one of the bags.
“Crisis actor in Germany forgets he’s filming on TV,” reads A Feb. 6 Facebook PostThis clip was featured. It received over 800 shares in just three days.
The term “crisis actor” refers to someone Who is paid to play a disaster victim or wounded soldier during emergency and military drills. However, conspiracy theorists The term has been adopted by the other sideIn recent years, it has been common to falsely claim that victims of tragedies like mass shootings are actually crisis agents.
Fact check: Posts falsely claim that the first UK vaccine recipients are ‘crisis actors’
This latest claim is an extension of those conspiracy theories.
“What liars our news media has (sic) become,” one Facebook user commented on the post.
The clip has been taken out of context – it does not show crisis actors in Germany. It actually shows climate protesters from Austria.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.
Video shows Vienna ‘die-in’
According to the Other fact-checking OrganizationsThe news clip in the post comes from a Feb. Segment from OE24Vienna-based station,.
The clip is in German, the official language of Austria. It features a group of protesters staging what appears to be a “die-in,” A type of protestTo represent fatalities, demonstrators must be lowered to the ground.
The people in the video are not crisis actors – they are protesting climate change. The clip is full of clues that reveal its true context.
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In English, the segment’s news ticker reads, “Vienna: demo against climate policy,”Google Translate.
The clip ends with a group of protesters dressed up as the Grim Reaper about 10 seconds in. a common representationOf death. The protesters hold two signs that read “Climate protection law saves lives” and “current climate policy does not,” Google translated the text.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a news clip shows proof of crisis actors in Germany. The post contains a news clip showing a protest against climate change in Vienna.
Our fact-checking sources:
- OE24, Feb. 4., Wien: Demo gegen Klimapolitik
- Associated Press, February 8, Video shows Austrian climate protesters, not COVID-19 crisis agents.
- Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed February 9, 2009. Where Does the Concept of a ‘Grim Reaper’ Come From?
- Google Translate, accessed February 9, Translation
- Google Translate, accessed February 8, Translation
- PolitiFact, Feb. 8, No, this video doesn’t show a German crisis actor
- Reuters, Feb. 8, Fact Check-Video: Demonstration against climate policy, and not crisis actors for Germany
- USA TODAY, February 21, 2018, ‘Crisis actors’ youTube video removed after it tops ‘trending’ videos
- USA TODAY, May 24, 2018. Sandy Hook families suing Alex Jones aren’t the only ones to threaten conspiracy theorists
- USA TODAY, February 21, 2019, The conspiracy theory about Florida’s shooting survivors that won’t end: “Enough is enough”
- The Guardian, February 21, 2018, The rise of conspiracy theory codewords: Crisis actors, deep-state, false flag
- BBC, Dec. 9, 2014, When did “die-ins” become a form protest?
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