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What can a reverse-image search actually tell you?

An image might appear online with a new caption, a crop, or an altered background. TinEye searches for matching versions of an image in its index, rather than simply other pictures of the same subject. A match offers a lead; it does not by itself establish who created the image or whether its caption is true.

3–5 min

Questions you could explore

  • What would you need to check after finding an earlier-looking copy?
  • What does finding no match leave unresolved?

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Media and information

What makes a historical source primary?

A diary and a history book stand in different relationships to the past, but neither is automatically beyond question. What counts as a primary source also depends on what you are trying to find out.

3–5 min
Media and information

Following a web claim back to its source

Five webpages repeating the same claim may lead back to one original report. Lateral reading looks beyond an unfamiliar page to investigate its publisher; following links upstream helps reveal where the evidence began.

8–10 min
Media and information

What can a photo’s metadata actually prove?

An image file may carry a date, camera information, or a caption alongside its pixels. Those details can be useful clues, but some can be changed or removed as a file is edited and shared.

4–5 min
What can a reverse-image search actually tell you? | Speech Topic | speaking.app