By: Emmi Kivi
October 24 2023
Clip of Greta Thunberg advertising a new book on ecologically friendly war is a deep fake
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Fact-Check
The Verdict Fake
The viral clip of Greta Thunberg advocating for a sustainable way of living is a deep fake, originally shared as satire.
Claim ID 99a571c4
What's the claim?
A viral video clip shows environmental activist Greta Thunberg advocating for a sustainable way of fighting wars, supposedly advertising a new book, “Vegan Wars,” and giving advice and tips on more environmentally friendly weapons and ways to combat them.
The post caption cites Thunberg: “If we want to continue fighting battles, like environmentally conscious humans, we must make the change to sustainable tanks. There are so many new concepts for battery-powered fighter jets that can carry biodegradable missiles.”
However, Logically Facts found that the viral clip is a deep fake.
What we found
Logically Facts performed a reverse Google image search on the keyframes of the video. The video clip is taken from Greta Thunberg’s interview from BBC’s The One Show, aired on October 31, 2022.
In comparing the viral clip to the original footage, Logically Facts found discrepancies in Thunberg’s mouth movements, indicating that the viral footage had been digitally altered. Examining the viral clip makes it easy to spot that Thunberg’s mouth movements do not match the audio. In addition to the mouth movements, the tone of Thunberg’s voice slightly differs in the two videos.
The original video of Thunberg's interview for BBC's The One Show on October 31, 2022. (Source: YouTube)
In the original footage, Thunberg discusses ways to tackle climate anxiety and advertises her new book “The Climate Book.” Thunberg describes the book as a “beginner’s guide to the climate crisis” to depict a holistic picture of climate change. The video makes no mention of environmentally friendly warfare. Neither was the topic described in the book’s table of contents.
Logically Facts researched Greta Thunberg and ecologically friendly warfare, sustainable tanks, and biodegradable missiles and found no credible reporting. Neither did we find results of a book called “Vegan Wars” written by Greta Thunberg, excluding a website marked as satire. The viral clip is also credited to a satirical account and has the word “SATIRE” written at the bottom right corner of the video.
The verdict
The viral clip of Greta Thunberg advocating for sustainable warfare is a deep fake. Logically Facts found that Thunberg’s mouth and voice have been digitally altered from a 2022 BBC interview. In the original footage, Thunberg discusses climate anxiety and climate change, not war. Neither did we find credible reporting of Thunberg calling for ecologically friendly war. Therefore, we have marked the claim as fake.