BEIRUT: Old images, fiction films and even video games have all been used to spread fake news stories in war-torn Syria — creating all the more work for a media collective debunking them.
Protests broke out against Syria’s regime in 2011 and then spun into violent conflict. All along, there has been a continuous stream of fabricated “news,” helped by the rapid-fire reach of social media.
To bring clarity and truth to an increasingly complex war, 32-year-old activist and journalist Ahmad Primo founded Verify-sy, an electronic platform that monitors and fact-checks stories about the conflict. “As reporters, journalists, and activists, we’ve got a responsibility,” Primo tells AFP.
“What’s happening today will be written down as history, and we don’t want it to be fake history.”
Years ago, Primo took part in protests in the northern city of Aleppo and worked at a website that published news about the popular movement.
After being arrested three times by regime forces, he moved to opposition-held territory in northern Syria before eventually leaving for Turkey.
“I was arrested for publishing the truth about what’s happening (in regime territory), and when I moved to opposition areas, I noticed they tamper with the truth, too,” says Primo.
“My reaction was that I can’t be quiet until we finish with these oppressors — and there are many oppressors now in Syria.”
Verify-sy, whose volunteers receive some funding from European nations, works across a range of platforms to shoot down fake news.
On Twitter, it posts screenshots of misleading new stories stamped with a thick red “X” and placed alongside correct versions branded with a green check mark.
“We consider any picture or news story that gets widely published to be something we should monitor and verify,” says Primo.
Primo’s team relies on various tools to verify news. They use traditional methods, like checking with their reporters and sources on the ground.
But they also use Google’s reverse image search to determine whether a picture portrayed as capturing one event actually dates back to an entirely different event.
Sometimes, members of the team are able to spot old photographs and video footage straightaway.
To help them in their work, the group has launched a Facebook page allowing users to post suspected phonies for them to check.
Activists debunk war-torn Syria’s fake news
Activists debunk war-torn Syria’s fake news
- On Twitter, it posts screenshots of misleading new stories stamped with a thick red “X” and placed alongside correct versions branded with a green check mark
- Sometimes, members of the team are able to spot old photographs and video footage straightaway
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
