Over six million people have watched a fake livestream that was purportedly showing “the face of Hurricane Irma,” when in fact is was looped video footage of a cloud formation in New Brunswick from over six years ago.
On Monday, as Hurricane Irma fizzled down to a tropical storm, entertainment website EBUZZ posted a looped video on its Facebook page claiming to be a livestream of the powerful storm.
“Face of Hurricane Irma!” reads the fake livestream description.
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The four-hour video is actually footage, looped over and over again, from a cloud formation that appears to show a face in the clouds. The footage was recorded by Denis Laforge, of Grand Falls, N.B., in August 2011.
As of Monday afternoon, the fake livestream had been seen over six million times and was shared another 87,000 times.
“Ok this feed is saying live but yet it keeps replaying? Impossible! Why do I feel this is doctored to get ppl in an uproar? Ppl don’t be gullible!” Maryann Greene commented on the video.
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Hurricane Irma’s damage in Florida, Gulf coast so far -
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Collier County, FL battered by high winds as eye of Hurricane Irma bears down -
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Tree comes crashing down behind reporter in the middle of live Hurricane Irma report -
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Fierce surf from Hurricane Irma slams into Miami pier -
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Hurricane Irma downgraded to Category 2 storm, still expected to wreak havoc on Tampa -
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Florida residents bring their horses inside as Hurricane Irma approaches -
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Hurricane Irma: Intense winds blow bend street signs, trees in Miami -
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Key West resident captures dramatic video of Hurricane Irma’s fury -
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Highway out of Florida Keys washed out by Hurricane Irma’s storm surge -
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Video shows Hurricane Irma’s intense winds shake, sway trees in Miami -
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Massive storm surge floods Key West as Irma’s eyewall hits Florida -
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Floodwaters continue to rise in Fort Lauderdale area, curfew extended -
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Hurricane Irma: Fire crews mark truck stranded in Florida canal as floodwaters rise -
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Hurricane Irma knocks out power to parts of Florida -
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Cuban emergency crews rescue residents from neighbourhoods flooded by Hurricane Irma -
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Ocean floor off Bahamas exposed as Hurricane Irma sucks up water -
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Donald Sutherland calls out Trump over climate change as Irma threatens actor’s home
“How the hell was this taken years ago when its being filmed live RIGHT NOW as we speak? And just started two hours ago,” wrote Samantha Leigh Kent.
The cloud formation wasn’t the only fake video shared on social media as Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida over the weekend.
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Footage of a flooded airport in Mexico began to make the rounds on Twitter and was said to be video from Miami International Airport.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s director of social media was among those who shared the video, which prompted the airport to correct Dan Scavino Jr.
“This video is not from Miami International Airport,” the airport tweeted at Scavino Jr.
The social media director has since deleted the tweet.
The fake Irma videos join the chorus of other fake news shared in the wake of a natural disaster. Hurricane Harvey brought out a swarm a storm-related news, we broke it down into categories found here.
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