Reverse image search
Major search engines can look for similar images. Upload a photo or a crop of it and see where it has appeared before and with what captions.
Tools
Tools
You do not need a lab to check things. Almost everything you need is already in an ordinary browser and search engine — you just have to know where to find the right feature and how to read the result.
A tool will not tell you whether a story is true. It only shows where the story came from; the conclusions are yours to draw.
How this section works: we describe kinds of tools, not specific apps. Menu and button names vary, but the features themselves exist in almost any search engine and browser. Start with what you already know and add new techniques gradually.
Checking tools
A basic kit that covers most everyday checks.
Advanced search by date
Search settings usually let you limit the publication period. That makes it easier to find the earliest mention of a story and tell whether it has resurfaced.
Web page archives
There are public archives that save copies of web pages. They show what a page looked like before and whether its text was changed after publication.
File properties
Some photos keep technical details: the date taken, the camera type, sometimes the location. They can be useful, but they are easy to erase or alter, so treat them only as a hint.
Maps and street-level imagery
Compare what you see in the photo with a map and street-level imagery: the terrain, buildings, coastline. If the landscape does not match the claimed place, the caption is probably wrong.
Read next
- Guides
Step-by-step guides: how to check a viral story, find the original source, read news about a study and help your family. The article catalogue is here too.
- Comparisons
How an original source differs from a retelling and an opinion, and a photo from a drawing, a video still and an AI-generated picture.
- If you slipped
What to do if you shared a mistake, a relative believes a chain message, or nobody in an argument can find where a story came from.
- Security
Risks for the careful reader: emotional headlines, fake accounts, forged screenshots and cloned voices.
- Glossary
A glossary of terms: original source, context, clickbait, deepfake, metadata, verification and other concepts in plain words.
Sources
- Reference materials on media literacy and information checking (general principles)
- Editorial materials of the Vovkinsite guide
The method is described in general terms as of the preparation date. Search engines, archives and forgery techniques change over time, so treat this advice as a way of reasoning rather than a final verdict on any particular post.