A selectively edited montage of video clips showing athletes fainting or collapsing is circulating as “evidence” that COVID-19 vaccines are causing an increase in such incidents. But that’s not true. Let’s take a look at the facts.
![A retweet of a video showing athletes collapsing that says, “Not normal. Boost at your own Pearl [peril].” The original tweet containing the video says, “We’re living in a sick, sick world. How is this deemed normal and even acceptable?” The News Literacy Project has added a label that says, “FALSE CONTEXT.”](https://rumors.newslit.org/content/images/2021/12/Athletes-evidence-collage-FALSE-LARGE.png)
NewsLit takeaway
Creating collections of out-of-context headlines, images and video clips, especially those that evoke a strong emotional response, is a common disinformation tactic. These “evidence collages” are often used to manipulate public sentiment about a subject. In this case, a selective montage of athletes collapsing is designed to mislead the viewer into falsely believing there has been a sharp increase in such incidents that coincides with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Related:
- “Fact Check: List Is NOT A Verified Accurate Account Of 108 Deaths Of FIFA Players And Coaches In Six Months Of 2021” (Sarah Thompson, Lead Stories).
- “Pre-pandemic video shared in misleading posts about girl 'collapsing after Covid-19 vaccine'” (AFP Fact Check).
- “Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines safe for children, not linked to deaths” (Daniel Funke, USA Today).
- “Benefits Outweigh Risks of Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine, Contrary to Posts Misusing VAERS Data” (Lori Robertson and Jessica McDonald, FactCheck.org).
- “Does Video Show Athletes Fainting Due to COVID-19 Vaccine?” (Dan Evon, Snopes).
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