TikTok tests ability for five-minute videos

There are some cases of fake news that are clearer than others. Misinformation or blurring the lines of truth and propaganda is an art form that some TikTok accounts appear to have refined. We take a closer look at two examples concerning the war in Syria.

Two videos circulating online in India claim to show different scenes of Muslims praying in the street. In the first case, the FRANCE 24 Observers were able to determine that the video took place in Turkey. In another video, the scene is clearly in a Paris suburb, not anywhere in the UK.

Storms, floods and other extreme weather events are massively documented by ordinary people using their smartphones. Much of the material circulating online often includes false images that show similar natural catastrophes at another time in another place. We take a look at some examples from Hurricane Shaheen that struck Oman and Iran two weeks ago.

A 16-year-old girl learned a hand gesture on TikTok to signal for help. Law enforcement says it saved her life. The 16-year-old girl sat beside her alleged kidnapper, looking out the car window at the other people on the road — people who could save her, if they only knew what was happening.

A teenager in the United States was rescued after flashing a hand signal that was popularized on TikTok indicating domestic violence. Experts say sharing such resources on social media can help those most at risk.

The Observers, we caught up with a Syrian migrant who filmed himself crossing the Maritsa river from Turkey to Greece, in order to reach the European Union. He recounts his various trials crossing the river and being confronted by Greek border guards. Then, we go to the United States, where an unprecedented number of people are quitting their jobs, after being fed up with corporate culture and work-life balance during the Covid-19 pandemic. They've shared their #QuitMyJob stories on TikTok.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.⁣

This week on The Observers, we spoke to Cynthia Kå who is using her social media pages to raise awareness of breast cancer among young people. She shares tips on how to prevent, as well as cope, with the disease. Next, we spoke to Murhula Zigabe, an entrepreneur in the Democratic Republic of Congo who is searching for eco-friendly solutions to common problems. He has been raising larvae from black soldier flies to be used as animal feed: an environmental and economical solution to food insecurity.

We take a look at one means of assembling a deepfake video online for free and see how this technique has been used to disseminate fake videos of newscasts in Mali. This comes amid a rise in tensions between Bamako and Paris.

Nigerian makeup artist-turned Tiktok sensation, Oni Mary, has wowed her audience with her skillful use of makeup to create faces of popular figures in Nigerian history. Her ability to draw life-like images on her chest while facing a mirror has earned her over 7,000 followers with thousands of views for each post.

Malawian musician Giddes Chalamanda had never dreamed in his 92 years that he might one day be famous enough to dine with the president followed by a night in a luxury hotel. Last month the singer did both, thanks to his unlikely new stardom on TikTok, a social media platform beloved of youths four generations removed from him -- one he can't access because he lacks a smartphone or even electricity to charge one.