Case study 1 – Delta Airlines
On December 21, 2016, X (Twitter) account, with the handle @omgAdamSaleh, published multiple videos on his page, claiming he was being ejected from the Delta Airlines airplane with his friend. In the videos, Adam Saleh accused the airline employees and several passengers from the plane of racism and discrimination.
Screenshot from X-account @omgAdamSaleh
Saleh claimed that he and his friend were speaking Arabic, which made some passengers uncomfortable and led them to complain to the airline staff. As a result, the airline employees asked Saleh and his friend to leave the plane. One of the videos Saleh posted went viral on social media, garnering several million views on X and Facebook within hours. The incident sparked public outcry, with accusations of Delta discriminating against Arabic-speaking passengers. Soon, the hashtag #boycottDelta began trending on Twitter, attracting significant media attention.
However, the events described by Adam Saleh in the video require important context that was revealed later. Investigating this context is crucial for accurately reconstructing the story that took place on the plane.
DSC principles and questions to investigate the Delta Airlines incident
The DSC principles serve as an adaptable toolkit for investigating online sources and can be used to critically reconstruct the events that unfolded on the Delta Airlines plane on December 21, 2016. To do this, it is recommended to first adapt questions related to tendency, interpretation, duality, relations, omission, and self-assessment to this specific incident.
Below we provide you with questions one could ask in relation to the story Saleh posted about on his X-account. Try to answer the questions before you see the answers we provide for you. Compare your answer to our answers and see how it affects to your understanding of the story.
You can reveal our assessment by clicking the arrows at the beginning of the answers.
Who is @omgAdamSaleh, and what interests or agendas might he have in spreading this information?
A quick check of the account @omgAdamSaleh or a simple Google search reveals that Adam Saleh is not your average citizen. He’s a YouTube influencer known for producing “pranking” videos, including involving airline companies. In these videos, Saleh intentionally creates situations likely to elicit extreme reactions from people. He then captures these moments and uploads them as entertainment. Therefore, while his experience with Delta Airlines may be genuine, his profession as a prankster necessitates additional scrutiny of his video content. We need to verify that he’s capturing authentic situations, not ones staged or manipulated to be more appealing to online viewers.
How do the technological features of X (Twitter) influence the message Adam Saleh conveys?
Moreover, as a technological platform used by Saleh, the Twitter video offers limited possibilities for the audience to receive comprehensive information within its immediate context. Instead, the nature of social media promotes the perspective of a single user, who appears to be personally involved in the incident.
Does Adam Saleh provide a factual account of the story, or does he offer a specific interpretation of the events?
In addition to being biased in his storytelling, Adam Saleh clearly makes assumptions and promotes his interpretation of the situation rather than presenting facts. For instance, he concludes that his ejection from the plane was due to the racism of several passengers and Delta Airlines staff.
Do the content of the video and Saleh’s written description align with each other?
Next to the form of the information spread, the content of the source material also reveals important discrepancies in terms of Saleh´s intentions and the events occurring. His video caption claimed that the airline removed him because he spoke to his mom on the phone in Arabic, urging Twitter users to spread his story. However, the only evidence supporting his version of events comes from his own interpretation of what occurred on the plane.
Is the topic Saleh addresses in his story emotionally and ideologically divisive? How do the source and the source material relate to the broader context of the issue of racism?
A key point for analysis is how Saleh’s video fits into the broader context of racially motivated discrimination cases, including those involving airline companies. Airlines, including Delta, have faced multiple allegations of ejecting people of color or those with ethnic backgrounds based on unsubstantiated claims. In this context, Saleh’s video is more likely to mobilize negative public opinion against a company already accused of racially charged incidents. Therefore, it is important to investigate how Saleh’s story might have relations to the broader issue of systemic racism and discrimination against Arab-speaking passengers.
Can there be different perspectives and accounts of the events that took place on the plane? Does the online source material include such accounts?
However, the central question in Adam Saleh’s story is not what information he provides, but what information he omits. These omissions highlight why his video cannot be relied upon as a sole source of information. For instance, the video does not include the perspectives of other passengers on the flight, nor does it present the views of the Delta Airlines employees involved in ejecting Saleh and his friend.
Which part of the incident is recorded in Saleh’s video, and what is missing?
In addition to omitting various accounts from different individuals involved in the incident, it is crucial to note when the video recording begins. The video only shows the moment when Saleh and his friend are being ejected from the plane, leaving unclear what happened before Saleh started recording and what motivated the Delta staff to remove the passengers.
After answering the questions related to the DSC principles, before checking our assessment, how would you evaluate the content of Adam Saleh´s video? Does the information he spreads hold considering the critical examination of his tendencies, interpretations, form and the content of the video, as well as how he relates to other information sources and information missing from the video?
Click here, to see our assessment based on DSC-principles
To sum up, Adam Saleh’s identity as a prankster, his interpretation of Delta Airlines’ decision as racially motivated, and his connection of his experience to the systemic problem of racism, along with his omission of important parts of the incident, raise legitimate questions about the reliability of the online material he produces. Later revelations, based on accounts from various eyewitnesses, proved that the story was more complex. It involved Saleh’s “disruptive and provocative behavior” on the plane, which led to passenger complaints and Delta Airlines’ decision to rebook him on another flight. Thus, although Saleh’s video was not fabricated, it showed signs of dramatization, primarily through his interpretation and omission of the full account of events.