A YouTube channel passed off a 2016 video of a fishing vessel that was blown up at sea in Indonesia as an illegal Chinese ship sunk in the West Philippine Sea.
On Feb. 27, it posted a one-minute-12-second-video with a headline that mimicked GMA Network’s 24 Oras. It read:
“24 ORAS EXPRESS CHINA VESSEL SA PINAS PINASABOG NA (CHINA VESSEL IN THE PHILIPPINES HAS BEEN BLOWN UP) WEST PHILIPPINE SEA! VINES BREAKING NEWS VIRAL.”
It also tagged the old video as “live now,” “breaking news” and “urgent”. The video showed the explosion of a blue fishing vessel which it claimed was “caught years ago” and “abandoned” in the Philippines.
This is false. The video shows the stateless illegal Fishing Vessel (FV) Viking sunk by the Indonesian government in Pangandaran, West Java on March 14, 2016.
The false post reversed Euronews YouTube channel’s original video of the controlled explosion.
FV Viking, which was on Interpol’s most wanted list, was caught entering Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone on Feb. 26, 2016. Reports say that it had changed names and flags to evade authorities around the globe.
According to the marine wildlife conservation organization Sea Shepherd, FV Viking was part of the “Bandit 6,” a group of “notorious and persistent poaching vessels” that has been illegally fishing for Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish.
A stock photo of a girl in a military airsoft uniform was also featured in the video.
The false video was uploaded less than two weeks after the Department of National Defense filed a diplomatic protest against China for its “aggressive activities,” including directing military-grade laser against the Philippine Coast Guard.
YouTube channel Ella Vloggs (created on Feb. 15, 2019) uploaded the video that has 129,747 views as of writing. Netizens also shared the link on Facebook.
This YouTube channel just recently claimed that Russia donated an attack chopper to the Philippines. This was debunked by VERA Files Fact Check (Read Russia did NOT donate attack chopper to PH).
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
