X replaces the names of users who suggest the notes with aliases, making it impossible to see who submits any particular note. In the case of the note on Trump Jrs account, the note was submitted by a user pseudonymously identified as Mellow Sun Swan four hours after Trump Jr posted the video.

This was the eighth note the user had submitted, according to their profile, but the first to have been approved. The user has in recent days submitted multiple notes on posts related to Iranian links to the conflict.

In the case of the Trump Jr. video, the Community Notes user linked to a video posted on the Iranian social media platform Wisgoon as evidence that the video was from years ago, not this past weekend. In the post, the upload date on the video is in Persian, which, when translated, reads 15 Mehr 1402, a date in the Persian calendar. This date translates in the Gregorian calendar to October 7, 2023the date Hamas attacked Israel.

An open source intelligence researcher tells WIRED that they confirmed the videos veracity by tracking the original video, which was broadcast by a Gaza civilian on a Facebook livestream on Saturday morning. The researcher, who posts anonymously on social media using the handle OSINTtechnical, is frequently cited by news outlets covering conflict zones.

Soon after the Trump Jr. note was published, an account associated with the far right that has advocated for banning the Anti-Defamation League tried to back up the claim about the video being fake, sharing a screenshot that showed the results of a reverse-image search for the thumbnail image of the original video. The results appear to show a series of links to Wisgoon featuring the same image, all of which have dates from seven or eight years ago. However, this is because the recent video was listed in the related videos list of the older videos, not proof that it is an older video.

On Wednesday afternoon, the note on Trump's tweet was updated to link to the tweet from the account linked to the far right.

X replied with an automated response to WIREDs questions, stating: Busy now, please check back later. Trump Jr. did not respond to WIREDs request for comment.

Update 9 am ET, October 12, 2023: The incorrect Community Note beneath Trump Jr.'s video post has been replaced with a note citing this article instead.

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A Graphic Hamas Video Donald Trump Jr. Shared on X Is Actually ... - WIRED