No, Al Jazeera did not report that 'UAE froze fighter jet deal with France'

What is the claim?

Multiple social media users have shared a video claiming that the United Arab Emirates has frozen a contract to buy 80 fighter jets from France, allegedly over the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France on August 25, 2024.  

The video, purportedly by Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera, carries its logo. It claims that Durov's arrest has affected a Rafale fighter jet deal signed between the UAE and France in 2021. Moreover, it states the UAE has frozen a delivery of F4 model planes, scheduled for 2027.

Several users shared this video on X (formerly Twitter). One such post had garnered more than 700,000 views and more than 7,500 likes at the time of writing this story. Archives of such posts are here, here, here, here, and here.

Screenshot of posts sharing the purported video report by Al Jazeera. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, Al Jazeera did not publish any video or report indicating that the UAE has frozen a fighter jet deal with France on its platforms.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search on key frames of the viral video yielded no results about the UAE freezing its contract for a fighter jet deal with France published by Al Jazeera. We checked all the social media platforms, YouTube channels, and the official website of Al Jazeera but found no such video since Durov's arrest.

A video published by Al Jazeera reported Durov's arrest on August 27, 2024, on its X and Instagram accounts (archived here and here). However, the video focuses on the details of Durov's arrest and the French authorities' preliminary investigation of Durov and Telegram. It does not report about the UAE or a fighter jet deal with France. 

Screenshot from a video about Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's arrest posted on August 27, 2024. (Source: Al Jazeera/Modified by Logically Facts)

We also found a news report by Al Jazeera, headlined, "UAE weighs in on Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's detention by France," published on August 27, 2024. According to the article, the UAE is following Durov's case since he is an Emirati citizen. The UAE has also submitted an urgent request to French authorities to provide all consular services for Durov.

Discrepancies in the viral video

Most Al Jazeera videos with no presenter are usually accompanied by the dateline or the location that appears at the beginning of the video (archived here, here, and here). However, the viral video does not specify any dateline or location.

Additionally, the text in Al Jazeera videos is positioned differently than in the viral video.

Comparison of the initial seconds of the original and the viral video (Source: X/Al Jazeera: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The end of the viral video also features a slide that reads "Follow, Like, Share and comment" just below the logo of Al Jazeera. However, recent videos uploaded by Al Jazeera feature the outlet's logo at the center of the slide, along with "aljazeera.com" written on the last slide.

A comparison of an Al Jazeera video and the viral video. (Source: X/Al Jazeera: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

We also noticed that the viral video claimed that the deal between UAE and France was valued at an estimated $10 billion. However, according to various news reports, the finalized contract is worth $19 billion.

The viral video also includes a brief clip featuring Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst for Al Jazeera, seemingly saying that France made a political mistake by arresting Durov. We found that the clip was taken from a recent video published by Al Jazeera (archived here), in which Bishara discussed strategic ambiguity in U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's approach to the Gaza issue within the context of the upcoming U.S. election, not a deal between UAE and France.

Ihtisham Hibatullah, Manager of International Communications for Al Jazeera Media Network, confirmed to Logically Facts that the viral video is fake, stating, "The content circulating on social media claiming that the UAE has frozen the purchase of 80 fighter jets from France and attributing this news to Al Jazeera is fake and we refute this attribution to the media network."

The origin of the viral video

The viral video was likely first posted on August 27, 2024, on a Telegram channel called "Ukraine Watch" with more than 60,000 members (archived here). It was subsequently shared by various social media users, with some posts with only the text claim on X, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram on August 28, 2024, attracting significant attention (archived here, here, here, and here). 

The viral claim about the UAE terminating a fighter jet deal was also disseminated by several prominent social media influencers, including American commentator Candace Owens and German-Finnish internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom (archived here and here). Both of their posts had amassed over two million views at the time of writing.

The verdict

The video circulating on social media claiming to be a report by Al Jazeera about UAE allegedly freezing a contract to purchase 80 fighter jets from France, reportedly due to the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, is fake. Further, there is no credible report about any such development in the deal.