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To find the original source of a news quote or video clip, search the exact wording or distinctive video frames, trace links and reposts back to earlier appearances, then check the apparent source and corroborate the date, location, and context. An earlier match is a useful lead—not proof that a clip is authentic or that its caption is accurate.
Start with the claim and the version you saw
Before searching, save the page or post URL and note the account name, visible date, caption, and what the content is said to show. These details give you a fixed version to investigate if the post changes or disappears.
For a quote
Search a distinctive stretch of the quote in quotation marks. If you find nothing, try a shorter phrase: punctuation, transcription, or small wording differences can prevent an exact match. Search results can help you find earlier appearances, but check the wording against a primary recording, transcript, official document, or direct statement when one is available.
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Do not rely only on the clip’s title, caption, or thumbnail. A repost may use a new caption or a different thumbnail even when the footage has circulated before.
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Trace citations, embeds, and reposts backward
Open the article, post, or page that the item cites or embeds. Check its date, attribution, and whether it points to an earlier post, recording, interview, or document. The [House of Commons Library’s guidance on verifying images and videos](
Follow each useful link one step further back rather than treating the first search result as the origin. Note the dates and account names as you go. An appearance predating the event claimed in a caption can disprove that caption, but the earliest result you find is not necessarily the first publication.
Find earlier appearances of a video with keyframes
A video is made up of individual frames. Reverse-searching several distinctive frames can reveal earlier appearances that a search for the clip’s title or thumbnail misses. AFP’s video-search guide describes using the InVID-WeVerify verification plugin to submit a video URL or file, extract keyframes, and search those images.
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- Open AFP’s guide and follow its instructions for submitting the clip’s URL or file to InVID-WeVerify.
- Extract keyframes from the clip and select several clear, distinctive frames. Frames showing recognizable people, signs, landmarks, or unusual details may be more useful than blurry or generic shots.
- Reverse-search more than one frame. Results can vary from frame to frame, and a detailed frame may perform better than a less distinctive one.
- Open promising results and inspect the pages themselves. Check publication dates, captions, account identity, and whether the page embeds or credits an earlier source.
A search result is a lead to inspect, not an authentication verdict. AFP’s example of tracing footage through an article’s embedded video to an earlier AJ+ post shows how following the page can help uncover an earlier appearance; it does not establish that every clip can be traced this way.
Check whether the source supports the caption
Finding the same footage or wording does not establish that the date, place, event, or interpretation attached to it is correct. Compare the claim with details in the media and with independent reporting or records.
- Place: Look for landmarks, road layouts, signs, language, and other location clues.
- Time: Compare the claimed date with visible conditions, the post’s publication date, and dated reporting.
- Event: Check whether the sequence of events and visible details match independent accounts.
- Quote: Compare the words with the complete recording or transcript, not just a short excerpt or someone else’s paraphrase.
The House of Commons Library describes a 2024 post that mislabeled 2022 footage of the Kerch Bridge as an explosion at a bridge in Maryland. The footage could be real while the caption’s event and location were false. See the Library’s section on Rank #3
