Five people have been arrested for creating fake footage to demonstrate the horrors of living in war-torn Aleppo.
The Egyptian team behind the footage, including a cameraman, his two assistants and the parents of the children in the video, have been arrested after police tracked them down using the geo-located images.
The individuals responsible have since admitted they planned to distribute the footage on social media to broadcast the horrors of the airstrikes in the Syrian capital.
Presumably, the team hoped to add to the social media discussion surrounding Aleppo, the city under torment which has fallen back under government control after being held by rebel forces for four years.
This conflict has been like no other in modern history.
Outsiders have been able to witness the harsh realities of life on the front line through various widely publicised social media channels, both from local news publications and the residents themselves.
Many residents of Aleppo have determined to remain in the world’s collective conscience by broadcasting airstrikes and bombings in all their brutal reality.
While many of the accounts have been invaluable in gaining aid for the people of Aleppo, this new fake footage is a misguided attempt to weigh in on the crisis.
The amateur footage shows a young girl with a bag covering her head, wearing a white dress covered in fake red blood.
It was reportedly shot at an Egyptian building site awaiting demolition in Port Said, according to the Independent.
Social media has been criticised for being rife with fake news and misinformation.
These would-be humanitarians and their suspected attempt to gain traction from the atrocities of warfare simply serves to fuel the fires of uncertainty.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.