French Media Dispels Faux News Following Paris Attacks

The French news network France 24 has decided to focus on a whole array of "baseless rumors and fake images" that were shared on social media following the deadly November 13 Paris attacks which claimed the lives of at least 132 people.

According to the France 24, the news that the Eiffel Tower's lights were turned off on the night of November 14 as part of the country's period of mourning holds no water. The network pointed out that the "Eiffel Tower goes dark every night at 1 am."

The news network added that "one of the most widely shared videos of the Eiffel Tower’s lights going off was published by Sky News last January."

Another common fake was a photo of the concert of the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal which was allegedly taken at the Bataclan concert hall minutes before the terrorist attack which killed dozens of people there.

However, France 24 referred to a Google Image search which revealed that "the photo, which was originally posted on the Eagles of Death Metal’s official Twitter account, shows a concert in Dublin a day prior to the attacks in Paris."

Separately, France 24 drew attention to US presidential candidate and billionaire Donald Trump's tweet, where he pointed out that the Paris attacks occurred in a country with among the toughest gun control laws in the world.

"The truth is that Trump did write the tweet below. However, he wrote it following the Charlie Hebdo attacks last January, and many internet users are mistakenly sharing it and reacting to it as if he had written after this latest tragedy," according to  France 24. As far as Trump's reaction to the November 13 terrorist attacks, he has decided to take what France 24 described as "a more diplomatic approach."

Additionally, France 24 focused on the photos which were actively shared on Arabic social networks, which showed a fire that broke out in the Calais migrant camp in northern France on Friday night. Lots of Twitter users reposted these images, describing them as depicting arson attacks by French citizens taking out their anger over the terrorist attacks on the camp's occupants.

According to a tweet, "French people set fire to Syrian refugee camps in Calais after the Paris attacks. There are several victims."

But France 24 quoted local authorities in Calais as saying that the origin of the fire was "clearly accidental" and that no deaths or injuries were reported. The French news network explained that "fires have repeatedly broken out in the migrant camp in the past, due to the use of gas stoves and open fire pits."

Last but not least, there are so-called online conspiracy theorists who "were already starting to share their senseless scenarios, less than 24 hours after the tragedy," according to France 24.

The news network referred to a video that was posted on the YouTube channel "Russianvids: The Matrix Exposed", where a man with an American accent claims that nothing happened at the Stade de France football stadium in Paris. Blaming the media for showing fake images of the crowd gathering on the field, the man insists that there are no amateur videos of the scene.

"This, of course, is ridiculous, since many amateur videos of the scene have emerged, for example this one," the France 24 recalled.

On Friday night, eight extremists wearing explosive belts attacked several venues across Paris, killing 132 people at restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium.