When Putin’s fans share fake videos of him to make him look tough
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Vladimir Putin’s online followers love sharing videos or photos of the Russian president that play up his strongman image. But sometimes in doing so, they share fake and manipulated videos – which then go viral. The Truth or Fake team take a look at two examples.
The first video shows Vladimir Putin apparently revealing a global conspiracy theory to eradicate some of the world’s population. In his speech in front of a large audience, he sternly addresses other world leaders about their “evil plan”. The video was shared recently on Facebook in Italian, in March in French on TikTok, and even in Spanish in 2017.
The second video apparently shows Vladimir Putin deliberately snubbing Emmanuel Macron at a gathering with other world leaders by refusing to shake his hand. But the clip was carefully edited and, in reality, Putin did shake Macron’s hand.
These kinds of videos are common online: Putin’s fans are very active on social media and often post videos or photos that cast him in a good light.