Fake videos about falling from the balcony onto X – what’s really behind it

Hanover. The death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne shocked fans around the world. The 31-year-old singer fell from the third floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening, Argentina time. According to police, Payne died immediately and Mann was unable to help him.

At the same time as the first reports of the incident, numerous rumors and images that were allegedly taken in or outside the former boy band star’s hotel room spread on social media. A video is currently being shared on the X platform in particular, which supposedly even shows Payne’s fall from the third floor and his death. However, the postings are fakes.

Video does not show Liam Payne falling

In the video you can see the open window of a high-rise building. A man wearing only a T-shirt and underwear jumps out of the window, holding on to the window frame with one hand. The man then falls at least three stories to the ground – a scenario that could easily be consistent with Payne’s accident. Then the camera shows the man lying lifeless on the ground – passers-by walk up and down the street around him.

The clip is sometimes distributed by an account that captions the video and other images with “The Truth Behind Liam Payne’s Death.” Another post, which has been seen 360,000 times according to the platform

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that some things do not fit with the Liam Payne case. The window from which the man jumps does not have a balcony at all – but the media reports in connection with the case that he fell from a balcony. The video also shows flames and smoke coming from inside the building. People are also walking on the street with water containers, which suggests that a firefighting operation may be taking place here.

Clip shows fire in Mexico

In fact, the video does not show Liam Payne, Buenos Aires, or the incident on Wednesday evening. This is a photo from September 2023.

During a house fire in Mexico City, a man jumped out of the third floor window to save his life. This was reported at the time by the Mexican TV station TV Azteca, which also shows the video in its article.

In the accident, the TV station continues, the man landed seriously injured on the asphalt. He was treated by paramedics and taken to a hospital for further care.

A 24 year old video

It is by no means the only questionable motif that has been shared on Platform X since the singer’s death. Another video shows a man wearing only red pants – he also apparently jumps out of the window of a high-rise building.

This video doesn’t show Liam Payne either – it’s a 24-year-old video from 2000. This shows Argentine rock star Charly García jumping into a pool from the ninth floor of a hotel in Argentina. The scene was recorded by chance because reporters from TV stations were there for another event, as the newspaper “Tiempo de San Juan” reports. A Channel 7 cameraman captured the jump.

The image of the jump became an iconic motif in Argentina. García himself escaped unscathed. He later described the daring stunt as the “only sporting activity I have truly enjoyed in my life.”

How to recognize fake videos

Fake video recordings are not always easy to spot. But there is a simple option: the so-called reverse image search on Google. To do this, take a screenshot of the recording and then upload it to Google in the “Images” tab. The search engine then displays suitable hits that are related to the image. This way you can verify the original source of the recording.

Reverse searches are now also possible with Google Lens in the Google app or the “Circle to Search” function on many Android mobile phones.

No clear source for hotel room images

In addition to the clearly fake videos, other recordings are being shared, the source of which is not entirely clear. Above all, this includes a series of pictures that supposedly show the musician’s hotel room. The photos sometimes show a smashed television on a shelf, while another picture shows the hotel room floor with all sorts of paraphernalia lying on it that suggest drug abuse.

However, several media outlets report that they have verified the recordings – but without naming the original source. The Argentine newspaper “Clarín” only writes that they were given “access to photos”. The online newspaper “Infobae” also writes from anonymous sources. According to the report, it is also unclear whether the photos of the room were taken before or after the singer’s death.

The daily newspaper “La Nacion” is more specific. The photos of the hotel room were verified with the help of “official sources who were active in the case”. CNN writes that the images were released by the police. On the Threads platform, users had also compared the circulating images with advertising images of the hotel – in fact, these, and especially the shelf, are very similar.

Casino advertising on corpse pictures

Photos published by the American gossip portal “TMZ” on Thursday are particularly authentic. They show nothing less than the singer’s corpse – but were removed from the portal after major protests on social media. In the published images, the singer’s arm, waist and tattoos can be seen. An image of the police tent that was set up over the singer’s body was also released.

The text accompanying the photos said: “TMZ has obtained a photo showing Liam’s body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby.” We’re not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoo – a clock on his left forearm and a scorpion on his stomach.”

Not only social media users, but also celebrities went up in arms after the pictures were published: Former X Factor contestant Rylan Clark wrote: “TMZ damn it, shame on you.” Pop star Alesia Cara added: “You’re disgusting @TMZ.”

Even if the portal has now deleted the images, these recordings are still posted on the X platform. And even in this case, some users do not shy away from the most morbid methods: one account even watermarked the images of the corpse for casino advertising. In other posts, the account combines the horrific photos with advertising for T-shirts with funny sayings.

On X, users earn money with fake posts

The fact that tragic events, false reports and misleading recordings are circulating on social media is not an entirely new phenomenon. However, there are almost no moderation rules on X since Elon Musk took over the platform. Misleading recordings, fake news and even recordings of death and violence can spread almost unhindered on the platform. With a simple search you will find the posts mentioned within seconds.

Such posts are also lucrative for users: Anyone who has a premium subscription to X not only gets a blue tick next to their username, but can also earn money with posts. Up to now, premium users have shared in the platform’s advertising revenue – the ads below a post were the main reason for this.

In the future, X users will pay whose content triggers high interaction among other premium users. So: the more discussions a post triggers, even if only because it is particularly controversial, the more money the user receives. Misleading posts and fake news are unlikely to curb the change – quite the opposite.