By SBS Language
Publication Date:
Persian SBS journalist Niv Sadrolodabaee was almost misled by a fake video showing prisoners entering Tehran’s Evin Prison.
The video fit perfectly with the story Niv was working on, following concerns raised by sources Political prisoners were mistreated in Iran.
Due to the country’s internet outages, it’s difficult to get information locally – so the video was exactly the kind of source he needed.
It showed a line of prisoners exiting a truck surrounded by guards.
“It seemed like someone had filmed it on their phone, which is quite common in Iran,” he told SBS Examinees.
“People usually film protests with their cell phones, and Western media reports on these videos.”
But before he hit publish, Niv noticed something didn’t look quite right.
“When they zoom in, you see someone disappearing from the video, and then you see someone leaving in a very unusual way.”
An expert confirmed Niv’s concerns about the authenticity of the video.
It was a huge reality check for me.
Niv…
