Don't be mislead by fake or phony photos on the Net

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Don't be mislead by fake or phony photos on the Net
Kornchanok Raksaseri


A doctored photo of a woman.

By the time you read this, it will have been a week since Malaysia Airlines MH370 went missing en route to Beijing.

BANGKOK: -- The plane's disappearance made headlines within hours and generated huge public interest. Faster than traditional media, social media is a key source of information flowing around the clock.

What has been flowing non-stop are the pictures and messages of support to the missing crew and passengers and the moral support being given to their families and friends. Yet, there was no sign of the missing plane as of yesterday.

Most theories that might solve the mystery have been rebutted or challenged.

News of the missing plane has in turn raised other issues or flaws.

Investigators found that two passengers on the missing flight were using fake passports. But even the pictures of the passengers shown by a Malaysian police officer to the media contained flaws. Netizens noticed that the two men in the pictures had the same bottom half - the bag, trousers and shoes.

A Malaysian official told Agence France-Presse that the mistake was unintentional - it had occurred while someone was photocopying the photos.

Unintentional is, perhaps, understandable. However, fake information spread on purpose, even for a joke, should be condemned as it only adds to the confusion about this tragedy.

Pictures of a previous airline accident were doctored and circulated in Chinese forums, for example. The logo on the plane was replaced with the Malaysia Airlines logo.

Of course, things circulated on the Internet can spread quickly, especially when it has a headline that says the passengers on flight MH370 survived miraculously.

The hopes of the relatives were given a rude jolt when it turned out to be pictures of a plane that crashed into the Hudson River in New York in 2009 and all the passengers survived.

There was something worse on Facebook. A hoax was posted stating the plane was found in the Bermuda Triangle. Before people could close the link, they are forced to share it and the hoax went viral.

On Tuesday, Phra Paisal Visalo shared a link from Gizmodo.com. It was a tale involving a picture of a sexy woman, which if traced back by reverse Photoshop, a surprising origin would be found.

A Facebook user posted a comment asking for clarification on why the monk shared the picture. The monk said he wanted people to learn about the media.

He also pointed out that both men and women can suffer from what they see. Ladies, especially, might suffer from thinking they are not as pretty as they would like to be, while the pictures in the media they see are actually doctored.

You can find the answer yourself by searching for the video clip by CollegeHumor titled "Photoshop has gone too far", which has gained more than five million views on YouTube already.

An advantage of the online world is that everybody can participate. Everybody can contribute information and comments.

But the information can either be reliable or fake.

Another advantage is everybody can help verify things. For pictures, try Google Image Search to find out information about a picture.


-- The Nation 2014-03-15

[Thai at Heart]

I think the nation should be focussing on stories of fake pictures in passports produced in thailand before they point out Malaysia's problems.

[sustento]

"But the information can either be reliable or fake."

No shit Sherlock!

[JohnPark]

[Ricky from Brisbane]

That video makes me hungry

[clockman]

Judgement, from the land of fakes!

[whybother]

Before people could close the link, they are forced to share it and the hoax went viral.

Did someone hold a gun to their head and force them to click the share button?

[Seastallion]

The (funny) irony here is that the "Photoshop has gone too far" is a fake in itself.

[ChrisY1]

Great example of Thai investigative journalism.....well done...!

[JoeThePoster]

How come I never had her delivered to me when I ordered pizza online?

[Yunla]

There's no need to try and jazz this story up with fake pics or conspiracies. This story is already deeply mysterious in itself, even if you go by mainstream news reports.

Reports which state the engines sent active-status pings to satellite for over four hours after the last voice exchange by crew. This implies the engines were flying for an extra four hours. The plane had enough fuel for another four hours flight beyond that too. Harder to confirm reports that passengers' mobiles were online-status on messaging services for a whole day after the plane vanished, and that some of those phones gave a ring when called by relatives. This last stuff is harder to confirm, but I would question why any relatives would make this stuff up too. My prayers are with the passengers and crew, and all the relatives and friends involved in this tragic event.

It is already a huge and upsetting mystery in itself, and does not need photoshop or other shameful fakery to embellish it.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Yunla

[WinnieTheKhwai]

[noitom]

What is astonishing so far about MH370 is the conspicuous absence of any Thai English press stories as is the case with the other South Asian countries as well as Japan and South korea's English newspapers. The Thai lack of coverage most probably stems from the fact that no reported Thais were on board. Therefore rendering the entire event useless and content free by the Thai press and of no interest to Thai readers.

Secondly, is the conspicuous absence of the Thai navy in the search efforts. Given the proximity of Thailand as well as the reported flight path of MH370 while in reported distress. The flight paths reported place the aircraft in a line very close to Phuket, a major airport and destination in Thailand.

Questions for the Thai press would be why no news, why no Thai navy involvement in the search, why no Thai transportation ministry comment, why no reporting of radar data by the Thai airport controls in Phuket and Hat Yai on either side of the direct distressed flight path of MH370?

All of these questions compounded by the fact that two of the passengers boarding the flight did so with passports reported stolen in Thailand. The questions surrounding the nature of Thailand's topology, it's known human and drug trafficking, its navy proximity, and its previous airport closing and security breach along with government corruption and trade in fake documents all give rise to the need for investigation in to Thailand's relationship to this airline incident.

[Thai at Heart]

What is astonishing so far about MH370 is the conspicuous absence of any Thai English press stories as is the case with the other South Asian countries as well as Japan and South korea's English newspapers. The Thai lack of coverage most probably stems from the fact that no reported Thais were on board. Therefore rendering the entire event useless and content free by the Thai press and of no interest to Thai readers.

Secondly, is the conspicuous absence of the Thai navy in the search efforts. Given the proximity of Thailand as well as the reported flight path of MH370 while in reported distress. The flight paths reported place the aircraft in a line very close to Phuket, a major airport and destination in Thailand.

Questions for the Thai press would be why no news, why no Thai navy involvement in the search, why no Thai transportation ministry comment, why no reporting of radar data by the Thai airport controls in Phuket and Hat Yai on either side of the direct distressed flight path of MH370?

All of these questions compounded by the fact that two of the passengers boarding the flight did so with passports reported stolen in Thailand. The questions surrounding the nature of Thailand's topology, it's known human and drug trafficking, its navy proximity, and its previous airport closing and security breach along with government corruption and trade in fake documents all give rise to the need for investigation in to Thailand's relationship to this airline incident.

The thai navy, army and immigration and policr has been busy delivering Uighurs and passports for the next opportune departure from Kuala Lumpur

[chooka]

That video makes me hungry

I would dine on both

[noitom]

Correction - Thailand did send one helicopter and one ship already in the Andaman Sea to the Andaman Sea search , and two STOL aircraft to the Gulf of Thailand search.

[whybother]

Correction - Thailand did send one helicopter and one ship already in the Andaman Sea to the Andaman Sea search , and two STOL aircraft to the Gulf of Thailand search.

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-thai-navy-sends-ships-1.509259

Joining the search are the H.T.M.S Pattani with 84 sailors, a fleet of helicopters with 12 crew members, nine special marines, and several medics.

Search MH370 Thai Navy and you will get more details of their involvement.

[Terry McEjut]

How come I never had her delivered to me when I ordered pizza online?

You should ask for a refund next time.

[MMarlow]

There's no need to try and jazz this story up with fake pics or conspiracies. This story is already deeply mysterious in itself, even if you go by mainstream news reports.

Reports which state the engines sent active-status pings to satellite for over four hours after the last voice exchange by crew. This implies the engines were flying for an extra four hours. The plane had enough fuel for another four hours flight beyond that too. Harder to confirm reports that passengers' mobiles were online-status on messaging services for a whole day after the plane vanished, and that some of those phones gave a ring when called by relatives. This last stuff is harder to confirm, but I would question why any relatives would make this stuff up too. My prayers are with the passengers and crew, and all the relatives and friends involved in this tragic event.

It is already a huge and upsetting mystery in itself, and does not need photoshop or other shameful fakery to embellish it.

"Reports which state the engines sent active-status pings to satellite for over four hours after the last voice exchange by crew. This implies the engines were flying for an extra four hours."

That is not mysterious at all, it's already been denied a day ago by all who were quoted originally.

Photoshop is not being used to embellish this event, if you bother to read the Nation's report properly you should understand that it is ,wisely, advising people to take media publishes stories or pictures with a large pinch of salt.

[Suradit69]

Judgement, from the land of fakes!

He said judgmentally while making a generalized smear of 66 million people.

[worgeordie]

If the latest to this mystery is that the plane turned around and preceded to fly back

over Malaysia and off into the Indian Ocean,did Malaysia not have its defense radar

turned on (do they have any ?), as it seems strange to have planes allowed to fly in

your airspace and the defense forces not know about it ?

regards Worgeordie

[bigbamboo]

How come I never had her delivered to me when I ordered pizza online?

Maybe because she doesn't taste as good as she looks?

[NCFC]

Ironic that this article apperars in the Nation of all places

[Thai at Heart]

There's no need to try and jazz this story up with fake pics or conspiracies. This story is already deeply mysterious in itself, even if you go by mainstream news reports.

Reports which state the engines sent active-status pings to satellite for over four hours after the last voice exchange by crew. This implies the engines were flying for an extra four hours. The plane had enough fuel for another four hours flight beyond that too. Harder to confirm reports that passengers' mobiles were online-status on messaging services for a whole day after the plane vanished, and that some of those phones gave a ring when called by relatives. This last stuff is harder to confirm, but I would question why any relatives would make this stuff up too. My prayers are with the passengers and crew, and all the relatives and friends involved in this tragic event.

It is already a huge and upsetting mystery in itself, and does not need photoshop or other shameful fakery to embellish it.

"Reports which state the engines sent active-status pings to satellite for over four hours after the last voice exchange by crew. This implies the engines were flying for an extra four hours."

That is not mysterious at all, it's already been denied a day ago by all who were quoted originally.

Photoshop is not being used to embellish this event, if you bother to read the Nation's report properly you should understand that it is ,wisely, advising people to take media publishes stories or pictures with a large pinch of salt.

Does this include their political analysis.

Maybe they should have a salt rating for their articles, or how about a one eyednss rating?

[SheungWan]

Ironic that this article apperars in the Nation of all places

Actually no. The land of fake assertions would be Red TV.

[Blackmirage2013]

Actually, as far as the missing plane is concerned.... to me, it is obvious... the pilots hijacked the plane and it is headed for the Middle East... looking at the bottom of the Bay of Bengal is a waste of time... although this is what the hijackers want... gives them more time to prepare the hijacked plane for some more horrible act....

[brfsa2]

another example of photoshoping a war: http://worldmathaba.net/items/1674-syria-a-photoshopped-revolution

[Mugg]

"But the information can either be reliable or fake."

No shit Sherlock!

You bring up a most astute observation. Could a fake be reliable ? and would that also be considered ainformation

[Beetlejuice]

It has come to be that we can no longer believe anything we hear, read and see on the media.

The truth is out there, but we`re not getting it.

[JamesDean3]

There is more to this than meets the eye. Malaysia is intentionally misleading the public. From recent accounts the pilot themselves are involve. It can only be surmised that this is one big operation involving "big" people or big groups with the money and technology. The next question is why? I suspect there is one or a group VIPS - very important person(s) onboard that flight. The only way they could get them was to divert the whole plane. The plane itself is useless if people think it will be used for suicide bombing etc. The plane could be shut down in minutes by any nation worth its salt. Thats why I think the Malysians are acting funny from the very beginning. They are hiding some information for their own national security reasons.