Origin and Spread of the Fabricated Footage
In November 2023, a 14-second video clip spread rapidly across social media platforms, including Telegram, X, Facebook, and Instagram, claiming to show a commercial digital billboard at the corner of 50th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. The footage purported to show an illuminated ABC News electronic screen displaying the slogan "Stand with Ukraine" alongside a Ukrainian flag, which was abruptly shoved aside and replaced by the slogan "Stand with Israel" and an Israeli flag. Accompanying commentary falsely asserted that American media had publicly abandoned support for Ukraine in order to prioritize Israel.
The video did not originate from a legitimate news broadcast or eyewitness capture. Instead, early iterations surfaced on Russian-language Telegram channels before being cross-posted by viral accounts across multiple social platforms. The post presented the clip as evidence of shifting political trends in New York City, attempting to manufacture tension between supporters of Ukraine and supporters of Israel.
Confirmation from Billboard Operators and Media
Statements from the billboard operator and the news network referenced in the video definitively established that the advertisement was entirely fictitious. The multi-tier electronic display, situated above 200 West 50th Street near Times Square, is managed by Clear Channel Outdoor. Following inquiries into the viral clip, corporate spokespersons confirmed that no such message had ever appeared on that billboard or any other digital installation in their network.
ABC News likewise confirmed that the network never created, purchased, or broadcast any billboard campaign displacing Ukrainian messaging with pro-Israel messaging. The network logo was digitally superimposed onto the display without authorization to lend a veneer of journalistic authenticity to the fabricated animation.
Digital Forensics and On-Site Evidence
Independent analysis of the clip revealed several unmistakable visual anomalies typical of computer-generated imagery (CGI) compositing:
- Inconsistent billboard coverage: The physical installation at 50th Street and Seventh Avenue is a unified, multi-panel wraparound display that presents synchronized commercial content across all tiers. In the altered video, the fabricated graphic appears only on the top portion of the structure, while the lower panels continue to display the actual scheduled advertisement for the DreamWorks animated feature Trolls Band Together.
- Perspective and lighting mismatches: The animated text and flags lack the natural optical distortion, glare, and ambient reflection produced by physical LED panels when recorded from street level. The motion graphics move across the surface with digital flatness that fails to match the curved architectural angle of the building facade.
- Contemporaneous physical documentation: Time-stamped photographs and street-level footage captured at the same intersection during the period in question verified that the commercial for Trolls Band Together ran uninterrupted across the entire billboard structure, with no political messaging displayed at any point.
Pattern of Manipulated Times Square Billboards
This incident reflects a recurring disinformation tactic involving the digital manipulation of prominent urban landmarks. Digital artists and propaganda networks have repeatedly targeted high-visibility advertising spaces in Times Square, superimposing politically charged slogans onto stock video footage to create the illusion of official endorsement. In previous instances, digital displays in Manhattan were similarly altered to falsely depict anti-Ukrainian slogans or mocked public figures.
Because Times Square is globally recognized as a premier advertising venue, fabricated clips staged there are designed to maximize international virality and exploit visual trust. In this case, verified records from billboard management and visual analysis demonstrate that the broadcast was entirely synthetic and never existed in physical reality.