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Recycled footage (false context)
Passing off real footage from another time or place as something happening now.
In our replies we call it: Old video, new story
What it means
The video is real, but it isn't what the caption says it is. Footage of an old fire, another country's flood or last year's protest gets a new caption during breaking news, and spreads faster than the original ever did. Because nothing in it is edited, it feels like proof.
How to spot it in a Reel
- A "BREAKING" caption on footage that gives no date, place or source
- Shop signs, number plates, uniforms or language that don't fit the place named
- The same clip in older posts about a different event
Examples
- A 2020 fire at a market in Ajman, in the UAE, shared in 2026 as an Israeli oil facility hit by a strike.
- A 2022 police raid on a school in Hamburg shared as a raid on a school in Berlin.
Why it doesn't hold up
What to say back
"Where and when was this filmed? Who posted it first?"
Questions
How can I tell if a video is old?
Pause on a clear frame and search it with Google Lens or TinEye, look for signs, number plates and weather that fit the place it claims, or send the Reel to @checkthis.chat: it looks for fact-checks of the same video and for where it was first posted.
Check a Reel for this trick
Send any Reel to @checkthis.chat on Instagram. If it uses this trick, the reply names it and shows where it happens.
Send a Reel