A viral video on social media claiming that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) paid for visits by American celebrities to Ukraine has spread disinformation in at least nine different languages, reaching over 20 million views on Twitter within just three days. The video, which falsely alleges that USAID sponsored visits by celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Ben Stiller to boost Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s popularity, has been shared widely on various platforms and websites linked to or close to the Kremlin.
Despite the spread of this false narrative, fact-checkers have debunked the claims, stating that there is no evidence of USAID funding visits by Hollywood stars to Ukraine. Ben Stiller, one of the celebrities mentioned in the video, has also refuted the allegations as completely false. However, the disinformation continues to circulate, with a significant number of posts on social media platforms lacking community notes warning users of the false information.
The dissemination of this misinformation has highlighted the need for improved community notes systems on platforms like Twitter to combat the spread of false narratives. While fact-checkers have identified and refuted the claims, many posts continue to circulate without proper context or warnings, contributing to the viral spread of misinformation. The analysis also revealed that a majority of the accounts sharing the disinformation on social media have a blue verification badge, indicating the need for users to critically assess content even from seemingly verified sources.
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