Working correctly with sources during active hostilities becomes importance even for those who generally have no interest in the news and are passive news consumers.
And taking into account that no current Armenian-language news search engine exists, Facebook and other social networking sites remain a source of immediate news for the majority of local Armenians.
Getting information from social media poses a number of problems, the most important of which is that in such a situation the average user becomes careless: he doesn’t carefully examine what source he’s consulting, how credible the website is, and so on.
It should be noted that in Armenian-language news feeds, there is a number of misinformation sources, which can be classified as follows:
(a) Heartless, meaningless, and pointless local Armenian websites, the authors of which call themselves journalists (editors). The problem with these platforms is that they spread misinformation purely to increase traffic to their site.
It’s not even possible to enumerate such websites, since new ones launch each week. But they’re easy to identify because they use in their headlines mainly words such as “URGENT” and “SCANDAL” (in caps) and can easily write “mortar” in the same headline — what’s important is to get clicks. Such websites are like boils: if you don’t touch them, they’ll dry up on their own and fall off. Just don’t click on them.
(b) Azerbaijani websites that are made to appear as Armenian platforms. The only one remaining from such platforms is ArmenianReport.com, which Azerbaijani agencies have been operating for several years now. (The detailed, technical disclosure on why this is an Azerbaijani website can be found here [RU].)
(c) Azerbaijani news sites in the Armenian language. The reader often doesn’t look at the URL and seeing Armenian-language information believes that it’s a local website. Such platforms are not few:
Armenia.az
Irevanaz.com
cbc.az/am: the website of an Azerbaijani satellite TV company (Caspian International Broadcasting Company), which also offers Armenian-language news
(d) Sources that are under Azerbaijan’s direct influence for one reason or another.
This is a Russian website that is unofficially engaged in Azerbaijani lobbying and often publishes material of a propagandist nature:
vestikavkaza.ru
vestnikkavkaza.net (the same in English)
From time to time this website publishes Azerbaijani propaganda, which later are advertised on Facebook specifically for an Armenia-based audience:
politrus.com
(e) Sources that allow anyone to publish content; that is, they’re actually open platforms where anyone can become an author.
This website has a huge impact on the ‘Armenian internet’, but its sources are not always verified:
www.oximity.com
(f) Video-sharing platforms such as videochart.net and moevideo.net take on a different role. Anyone can open an account on these sites and get advertising revenue from the videos shared.
Unfortunately, online this has become something akin to a labor migrant: there are people who are trying to make money on every serious incident.
And many fake videos are shared when tension escalates at the border.
They are shared aggressively, through fake user accounts, and they flood Facebook groups.
This is already turning into a real circus.
One can see such posts that supposedly show the actions of the Armenian army but have absolutely no connection to the current situation and were taken from conflicts occurring at a different time in different countries.
For example, the video in the screenshot below was actually taken from the Ukraine war.
It’s not worth watching such videos on other platforms — only on the websites of credible and verified news outlets.
In addition, individuals who understand military topics can be consulted.
For example, users in the Armenian-language Facebook group Razmashkharh (“military world”) can easily verify the authenticity of a video. And before sharing such content on social media, it’s worth trying to verify it.
Samvel Martirosyan
The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.
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