A trending social media post on the floods in Libya uses a video of a deadly mudslide that occurred in Japan in 2021.
More than 5,000 people have reportedly died in the floods in eastern Libya that were triggered by heavy rains on Monday.
A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, says, in English: "Heartbreaking to see the havoc caused by flash floods in Libya. It's yet another stark reminder of the urgent need for global action on climate resilience and preparedness." It accompanies, without a caption, a video showing houses being washed away in a mudslide. The video actually shows the disaster that took place in the resort town of Atami, Japan, in July, 2021. More than two dozen people died.
The same video has also been posted, without a caption, on another X account, with the hashtag #Libya.
A number of X users have spotted the misleading video, and pointed out that the video is not about Libya, but Japan.
The video appears to be yet another example of how misleading, or outright false information can spread quickly online during a natural disaster.
In the aftermath of wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui in August, some online posts showed totally unrelated images and made baseless claims that the fires had been started deliberately.
When a strong earthquake hit Kumamoto City in Japan in 2016, fake news was posted online that a lion had escaped from a zoo in the city. It was accompanied by a video taken in another country.