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The hoax that in this video Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) celebrate the launching of US missiles from Ukraine to attack Russia has gone viral in at least five languages (Spanish, English, French, French, Italian and German). Its level of diffusion and impact has crossed borders, reaching different countries in Europe and other continents in less than a week.
For this study, Maldita.es has analysed 19 videos (most of them with more than 10,000 views) that spread this video with false messages through Twitter (now X). All of them were published between 20 and 24 November 2024, a few days after the images were recorded in the European Parliament (EP), and together they have millions of views on the platform.
From Brussels to the world: how this disinformation has gone viral in different languages
This video is real: it was recorded on 19 November 2024 at the extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament to commemorate 1,000 days of the Russian invasion, following the virtual speech by Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky. However, it is going viral with a false message: that the cheering of MEPs was ‘because the sending of US missiles to Russia had been approved’. We have checked the Ukrainian president's speech and there is no mention of the US missile launch against Russia.
These kinds of statements (all of them without evidence, since the video does not contain anything related to US weapons) have gone viral through X in different languages. With the analysis of Maldita.es we have identified five different languages. The most repeated in our selection of videos is Spanish: these eleven (out of 19) videos have more than 10,000 views and were published between 21 and 22 November. In total, they had more than 1.9 million views on 25 November.
One of these contents has been shared by the profile called “Muy Mona”, an account (with more than 134,000 followers on X, as of the date of publication of this text) that we have already warned about on other times because they spread disinformation on social networks by hiding their true identity behind images of women (either illustrations or real photographs of someone else).
Screenshot of one of the contents analysed by ‘Maldita.es’. Source: X.The English versions of this hoax have had a strong impact. The two videos analysed have more than 1.6 million views and were published four days apart (20 and 24 November). The most viewed, with more than 1.5 million views, is from an account that currently has more than 1.1 million followers. It also spreads with the following message in Spanish: “If World War III breaks out, they and their families will have to be on the front line and find out. Do you agree?” The other content in this language also states that “Europe has screwed itself” with this supposed decision to send US missiles to Russia.
Screenshot of one of the contents analysed by ‘Maldita.es’. Source: X.These are not the only languages in which this misinformation has gone viral. It has also gone viral in French (the two videos analysed have more than 260,000 views), Italian (another two videos with almost 80,000 views) and German (two videos with around 4,000 views).
Screenshots of some of the content analysed by ‘Maldita.es’. Source: X.This means that, at the least, it moves around the European countries in which these five languages are spoken. This increases the range of its spread and the impact it can have on the European population. Moreover, the English and Spanish versions may cross European borders and end up travelling to other countries such as the United States (which is mentioned in the disinformation as the owner of the supposed missiles that were to be sent to Russia) or Latin America.
No community notes and blue ticks: why you can't trust this content
All the content mentioned in this text are still published on X, adding views and reaching more and more people (as of 26 November 2024). However, there are no community notes warning that it is a fake message. This system allows context to be added to tweets in order to provide additional information to users so that they can see in these notes if a tweet is false, although they are not moderated or verified, so we cannot be sure that it is true.
In addition, the accounts that have shared this disinformation and have achieved the greatest impact have the Twitter Blue tick. Of the ten most viral contents, eight have this badge. But beware, it no longer means that a profile has been verified and is who it says it is: it is now available for a fee and anyone can access it.
