SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego was recently hit with flooding — but not all the images circulating on social media are what they appear to be.
During a morning scroll, I found about five fake flooding posts for San Diego, all coming from random accounts on social media. While the region did see real flooding, not all of the images being shared were recent. Some posts used AI-generated content, while others relied on old footage taken years ago.
It's a trend San Diego police are also noticing.
"We have noticed an increase in social media accounts that publish quick snippets of video, information they've heard, or things they have seen on other accounts," Ashley Nicholes, the Communications Manager for SDPD said in a statement. "It can be challenging as a public safety agency to continually monitor and correct this type of false information."
To be clear, many social media accounts do verify and put out good, timely information. SDPD admitted the same.
"There are also a few social media-based media that publish news from the police department or that they have seen at police scenes. Many of them reach out to us to verify and ensure accurate information when they post," Nicholes said.
So how do you know which is which?
Many platforms have dated content, which can show when something was posted. ABC10 News dates all old footage before it airs and before it goes online to prevent confusion. Especially shocking events like bad crashes, shootings or other types of newsworthy crime can and should be verified via a Google search or by clicking on the profile associated with the post. Furthermore, multiple posts of the same incident with different information can be a clue that the post is wrong.
The full statement from SDPD can be read below.
SDPD has a Media Relations Unit that works to provide accurate and timely information to traditional media, online publications and through the department’s social media accounts. There are also a few social media-based media that publish news from the police department or that they have seen at police scenes. Many of them reach out to us to verify and ensure accurate information when they post.
Recently though, we have noticed an increase in social media accounts that publish quick snippets of video, information they’ve heard, or things they have seen on other accounts. We have noted that sometimes they do not verify information before posting, particularly as it relates to public safety information, and that can be dangerous. In one instance, there was a lockdown occurring at a school due to what turned out to be an unfounded threat, and a social media account stated definitively that there was an active shooter. In these types of scenarios a school on lockdown versus a confirmed active shooter can lead to undo panic in our communities.
It can be challenging as a public safety agency to continually monitor and correct this type of false information. That’s why our teams work to provide accurate and timely information as it becomes available through traditional media or our own accounts. We encourage community members to follow official accounts or local news media to verify information, especially when it comes to public safety.
In May, following the tragic shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, social media and news media misidentified one of the suspects and, unfortunately, an innocent person’s photo and name were put on a national stage. We worked to correct the information with the news outlets and posted the correct suspects name to our website. To not give further notoriety to the suspects, we intentionally did not release photos or post their names to our social media. This instance highlights the importance of checking and verifying before reposting something you see.
Depending on the severity of the misinformation, we do sometimes work to correct the record, either by commenting or attempting to reach out to the account.
Our goal in sharing this information was to remind people that while social media is a rapid source of information, it can have its downsides, and to be mindful when using it as a place to get your news updates.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
