The Claim that the UAE Canceled a Contract with France Due to Durov Stems from a Fake Video

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On August 28, a Georgian-language Facebook user disseminated a claim that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government froze a multi-billion-dollar contract for the purchase of 80 fighter jets with France because of Pavel Durov. According to his post, the decision was made after the founder of Telegram was arrested in France.

The same information was circulated by Russian-speaking Facebook users, pages (1;2;3;4;5;6), and websites (1;2). Russian-speaking users also disseminated a video with an Al Jazeera logo that repeats the same claim.

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The claim that the UAE froze its contract with France for 80 fighter jets due to Pavel Durov’s arrest is disinformation. The claims originate from a fabricated video falsely attributed to Al Jazeera. In fact, no such information has been published by the media, and there are no other sources confirming the cancellation of the contract.

The UAE signed the contract for the purchase of 80 Rafale fighter jets from France in 2021. The contract is historic, considering it is the largest international order ever for military aircraft. The agreement also included the purchase of 12 helicopters, with a total value of €17 billion.

However, there is no information to suggest that this contract was frozen by the UAE due to the arrest of the Telegram CEO. No statements regarding the cancellation have been released by French media (1;2), nor have they been published on the UAE Ministry of Defense or Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites or X (formerly Twitter) pages (1;2). In response to the arrest of its citizen, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on August 26, stating that they are closely monitoring the situation and prioritizing the well-being and support of their citizens. The statement did not mention any cancellation of the contract with France.

The video circulating with an Al Jazeera logo, which repeats this claim, is fabricated. In reality, no such video or information has been published on Al Jazeera’s pages or website (1;2;3). Fact-checking organizations, including Logically Facts and Full Fact, contacted Al Jazeera representatives, who confirmed that the video is fake.

The video contains inaccuracies that indicate it is fabricated. For example, the contract’s value is stated as $10 billion, whereas it is actually $19.20 billion.

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Moreover, the video features a quote attributed to political analyst Marwan Bishara, but his voice is not heard, and the quote is presented as text. This is one of the signs that typically characterize fake videos published under the guise of well-known media outlets. It’s also notable that no statement of this nature can be found in the media or on Bishara’s X page. The video, featuring the cited text with muted audio, is actually a fragment from an Al Jazeera interview. However, in that interview, he discusses the Israel-Hamas conflict, not the founder of Telegram.

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Left: A shot from the fabricated video; Right: A shot from Bishara’s interview with Al Jazeera

The video was initially debunked by France 24, which, among other inaccuracies, found that the font and text size used in the fabrication do not match the style used by Al Jazeera. Additionally, the sentences in the fake video are awkward and ungrammatical in English. For example: “The UAE has frozen the contract actions for the purchase of 80 fighter aircraft from France.”

When verifying the information, The Eurasian Times discovered that the false claims about the contract cancellation were spread on X using the same text, though the authors did not cite specific sources.

The founder of Telegram was arrested in France on August 24. The Russian-born businessman, who also holds French citizenship, is accused of failing to provide law enforcement with the information necessary for an investigation, cybercrime, money laundering, and importing cryptographic devices without prior declaration. He is currently under judicial supervision, prohibited from leaving the country, and must report to the police twice a week.

Fabricated videos published under the guise of well-known media outlets are spread somewhat frequently. Myth Detector has fact-checked a number of such videos. These fabrications share common features – the creators use the logos of trusted media outlets to spread disinformation and mimic their content. Additionally, the exact source of the false information is sometimes unknown, though the videos are mostly spread through Russian media and Telegram channels. The videos often consist of generic clips cut from various sources and are frequently overlaid with music and subtitles.

Read the full article on “Myth Detector”:

About the Sources

 Georgian-language Facebook user Davit Jebashvili frequently disseminates disinformation. Myth Detector has labeled a number of his posts as false information.

Russian-speaking Facebook user Vlad Shamanski has also spread false information in the past. His posts have been labeled by a number of foreign fact-checking organizations.

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Russian-speaking Facebook user Анна Вольнова systematically publishes information of anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian content. Many of her posts have been flagged as false information.

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The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.

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Topic: Politics
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