An example of how inauthentic social media can be. LBC is a major news outlet in the UK, and they posted a video with the title “Ex-MI6 Spy insists Epstein was a Russian spy and blackmailing Trump”. The actual video, though, was an LBC presenter interviewing UK Housing Secretary Steve Reed about an urban regeneration program. Literally nothing to do with Epstein or Russia anywhere in the video, save for the presenter asking about the appointments of a UK politician exposed in the files at the end. Every single comment, though? Deflecting from Russia towards Israel.
To be clear I do not doubt Israel’s involvement. I think it’s silly to argue that other countries can’t also be involved, but that too is besides the point. My point is more how clearly absolutely none of these comments are from a person that watched the video. The unfortunate reality is that real people do engage with these comments, despite the reputation that youtube comments deservedly have, and they will have no idea that said comments have been flooded by inauthentic activity well before any humans got there.
I’m not surprised, but I don’t think I’ve ever stumbled across quite such a blatant example before
The original video has been taken down now and Wayback doesn’t seem to have caught it, but here is the link in case anyone knows something they can do with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4bBbwndQc
As in LBC posted the wrong video intentionally?
Not necessarily intentionally, and not necessarily first. They may have uploaded the right video first, comments accumulated, then had to make an edit or change, then incidentally uploaded the wrong video when a technician misclicked. There are plenty of banal explanations with no need to resort to superfluous conspiratorial conjecture.
If that was the case, would they not just put the correct video back instead of taking it down altogether and uploading the correct one separately? I don’t know if you actually can replace the video file on a youtube upload. I know there are some limited editing tools that can be used to cut a segment out, but that wouldn’t explain this
Where is the “actual video” exactly? Why is this phony video even up?
Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYRVezF5-hk
Edit: apologies for the double reply, I didn’t notice that it was you asking both times. I’ve left more details in the other one
Isn’t it pretty much established fact at this point that a large proportion of comments online are now from bots? Maybe this explanation isn’t ‘banal’ but that doesn’t make it farther from the edge of occam’s razor than the other options you’re proposing.
Maybe people are upset at an obviously phony title and description. The fact that the video doesn’t exist just makes it that much more phony.
The real video does exist, LBC just uploaded the wrong one. They corrected it in a matter of hours. Here’s the actual one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYRVezF5-hk
The interview with the housing secretary was also re-uploaded with the correct title and description