From Birutė Vėsaitė to Vladimir Putin – how the Ceuta migrant crisis is used to spread lies

Disinformation campaigns are exploiting the migrant crisis in Ceuta, using manipulated content to spread false narratives. One target of these campaigns is Lithuanian Member of Parliament Birutė Vėsaitė, whose 11-year-old photograph has resurfaced on social media.

In the photograph, Vėsaitė expresses support for migrants. However, social media users are deceptively omitting the photo's age, presenting it as a current statement. This tactic aims to mislead the public about her stance and the ongoing situation.

Another instance of disinformation involves a video clip purportedly showing Ukrainian soldiers threatening Iran. "Melo detektorius" (The Lie Detector) has investigated this claim and found that while the video footage is real, the audio track has been fabricated. This method of using genuine visuals with false audio is a common technique to deceive social media users.

These disinformation efforts are reportedly funded by the European Union. The project emphasizes that the opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Commission.