A video appearing to show an argument between a flight attendant and a passenger is circulating online without the crucial context that the scene has been staged.
The video, which is supposedly filmed by another passenger, appears to show an argument on a plane between a crew member and a passenger whose gender identity does not match the information assigned to their seat.
The flight attendant threatens to remove the passenger from the plane, saying: “If you’re going to continue to fight the facts that I’m looking at right here then I’m going to have to haul you off because you could be a dangerous person, we don’t know, we have no way of confirming this [...] because you’re not the person on my list.”
The passenger says: “I feel like I’m a man so I’m a man”.
The video has been shared on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, where users seemed unsure whether it was real. The video has been shared with the caption “Did this really happen?” while another post says “Not confirmed if real or not.”
A longer original version of the video, which has almost a million views, includes several disclaimers that the scene has been staged.
The account posting the video is called ‘Jibrizy’ and is listed as a comedian, with the page’s introduction saying: “I’m a director making conversational topic videos that feel real”.
The user, Jibrizy, posted in the comments: “Guys its [sic] acting before you say it watch the video we state it at the end”. A separate clip at the end of the video shows the two actors on either side of a man who says: “Hey guys, that was all a skit [...] what would you do in this situation?”
The video has also been debunked by fact checkers at USA Today, Politifact and Lead Stories.
Content like this can easily be taken out of context and, without background, become a source of misinformation. We’ve written about instances when satirical content has been mistaken as real, including screenshots of both the Uber app allegedly offering a ‘walking buddy’ service and a new Google Meet function turning on all participants’ cameras instantly, as well as a claim that Iceland has declared all religions mental disorders.
It’s important to consider whether something shows what it claims to before sharing it online. You can read our guides on how to spot misleading images and videos here and here.
Image courtesy of Douglas Paul Perkins