Recycling old content is a proven strategy for reaching audiences to spread political propaganda — regardless of political orientation.

"Especially in times of crisis and conflicts, old videos and photos resurface on social media falsely presented in a current context," said Brittani Kollar, who leads media literacy efforts at the Poynter Institute.

The US nonprofit supports fact checking, training and media criticism.

"In wars and conflicts, it's particularly hard to get video footage," she told DW. "That's why manipulated or fake videos often fill that gap, even when they've already been used in other contexts or previously identified as false."

Political battle over ICE narratives

A TikTok videoshows a teenager on a bicycle being hit by a police car and pushed to the ground. Shortly after, he is taken away. 

In reality, the boy thrown off his bike is not the same one being led to the police car. That's because the video is split in two. In the first part, the boy is wearing dark pants and speaking English, and the sun is shining. In the second part, the boy is wearing camouflage pants and speaking Spanish, and the streets are covered with snow and ice.

The first part comes from a recording made on April 2, 2025, in Deerfield Beach, Florida. In this video, police officers stop several teenagers riding their bikes through the streets. Local media also reported on the incident, and it appears repeatedly in other videos about the arrest of children and teenagers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

The second part shows a scene from Minneapolis on January 13, 2026. Masked ICE officers tell a teenager in Spanish to show his papers and force him to get into the police car. The two clips are from different, unrelated times and locations and do not show the same situation.

Tip: It's always worth analyzing a video carefully. What language is being spoken? Can places, people or objects be clearly identified? Has the alleged incident been reported in other media? You can check this with a keyword search online or a reverse image search to match scenes from the video to possible original sources or previous publications. 

Geopolitical tensions over Greenland

There are also cases in which old videos are taken completely out of context. For example, a January 19, 2026 post on X claimed that dozens of US Air Force F22 and F16 fighter jets had arrived in Greenland. The attached video shows a fighter jet taking off from a runway surrounded by snow-covered mountains.

 

The video was posted shortly after US President Donald Trump reiterated that the United States wanted to take over Greenland. This is another case of an old video being reposted in a new context and combined with a false claim. 

Comments under the post can provide early hints that something is wrong. And a reverse image search provides the proof. In reality, the footage doesn't show Greenland but rather the US Air Force Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. The video first appeared in 2022 and has nothing to do with US troop movements to Greenland. It's also been mirrored to make it more difficult to identify.

The user's profile also reveals some information. His profile features the quote, 'Donald Trump is back on X. The endgame,' identifying him as a Trump supporter. The profile picture, a stylized lion's head surrounded by a bold black letter Q, also links him to the far-right QAnon conspiracy movement.

Tip: In addition to the comments, a simple reverse image search can help to determine the source. The user's profile can also provide clues as to why an old video is being shared again and what purpose it serves. Cross-referencing claims in the post with media reports on the current situation can help put the post in context.

Protests in Iran, the US or Germany?

A video showing burning cars and masked figures in Thessaloniki appeared in several different contexts. It was originally posted in November 2025 on a Greek Instagram account and shows protests in the Greek city following an anti-establishment concert by rapper Alexis Lanaras, also known as Lex.

In January 2026, an X user recycled the video, but claimed it showed protests in Iran. Another post on X from January 11 claimed it showed millions of people in the US demonstrating against Trump's policies. The same video was also used to depict alleged riots on New Year's Eve in Germany.

Tip: Cross-referencing image and video material helps identify recycled content. This can be done on platforms like Newsflare. The London-based online platform verifies and licenses user-generated videos. The Thessaloniki incident is documented there. A search using Google's Fact Check Explorer, which also features DW fact checks, can also help.

Old videos, new impact: The role of media literacy

Reusing footage over and over again can serve a purpose. 

"Political actors [parties, governments, political groups, movements, etc.] want to strengthen consensus for their positions," Tommaso Canetta, a disinformation expert at the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), told DW.

According to Canetta, false images and videos in such contexts can heavily influence debates. "The use of false content triggers a strong emotional response in viewers, driving them to extreme positions and making rational discussion with nuanced viewpoints more difficult."

Media literacy is therefore becoming increasingly important given the rising use of social media.

"Because social media algorithms are designed to highlight the most-viewed videos, fake videos go viral," Kollar said.

According to Kollar, false or recycled videos used in the wrong context can lead people to become more cautious and skeptical about all online content.

There is no silver bullet for recognizing disinformation. But those who develop media literacy and an eye for sources and context can often see through manipulation more easily.

The article was originally written in German.