Danish PM Frederiksen issues warning after use of fake subtitles in video
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned evening of fake content online after a video of her with false subtitles was spread on social media.
The video, which has primarily circulated on TikTok, uses incorrect subtitling to make it appear as though Frederiksen is mocking Taiwan in parliament, Danish media including BT and Berlingske have reported, citing a fact check carried out by news agency AFP.
“There’s so much on the internet that isn’t real,” Frederiksen wrote on Facebook.
“I encourage all of us to remember to be critical when we keep ourselves updated. And to use media that live up to our publishing standards,” she said.
“Russia is also using fake news and manipulation campaigns to destabilise European democracies, so we must be careful,” she also wrote.
Berlingske writes that it has reviewed copies and shares of the video on social media, finding they were primarily shared by Chinese-speaking accounts.
According to BT, the video finishes with a text which briefly appears on the screen saying that the video is for entertainment purposes only. The Taiwanese consulate has meanwhile condemned the video, the paper reports.
The video has gone viral at a time of increased tensions between China and Taiwan.
Denmark does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country but as part of China.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen meanwhile said on Tuesday that his ministry will look into whether Denmark can register visitors from Taiwan as Taiwanese, rather than being from China as is the current practice.
The foreign ministry will look into why the existing practice is used and what is done in other countries, Rasmussen said.
“On that basis we can see whether we can find an alternative solution which is compatible with our ‘one China’ policy,” he said in a comment to Berlingske.
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The video, which has primarily circulated on TikTok, uses incorrect subtitling to make it appear as though Frederiksen is mocking Taiwan in parliament, Danish media including BT and Berlingske have reported, citing a fact check carried out by news agency AFP.
“There’s so much on the internet that isn’t real,” Frederiksen wrote on Facebook.
“I encourage all of us to remember to be critical when we keep ourselves updated. And to use media that live up to our publishing standards,” she said.
“Russia is also using fake news and manipulation campaigns to destabilise European democracies, so we must be careful,” she also wrote.
Berlingske writes that it has reviewed copies and shares of the video on social media, finding they were primarily shared by Chinese-speaking accounts.
According to BT, the video finishes with a text which briefly appears on the screen saying that the video is for entertainment purposes only. The Taiwanese consulate has meanwhile condemned the video, the paper reports.
The video has gone viral at a time of increased tensions between China and Taiwan.
Denmark does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country but as part of China.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen meanwhile said on Tuesday that his ministry will look into whether Denmark can register visitors from Taiwan as Taiwanese, rather than being from China as is the current practice.
The foreign ministry will look into why the existing practice is used and what is done in other countries, Rasmussen said.
“On that basis we can see whether we can find an alternative solution which is compatible with our ‘one China’ policy,” he said in a comment to Berlingske.
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