AFP México

Caracas protests: real demonstration, wrong date

Published on 26 January 2019 at 02:34

A video of protests calling for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s resignation was shared thousands of times on social media. Although several thousand people did march in the streets of Caracas on January 23, 2019, one of the most widely shared videos supposedly depicting these protests was actually shot in 2016.

Human-like piglet is online hoax with Italian artist’s work

Published on 25 January 2019 at 19:00Updated on 30 January 2019 at 00:16

A picture claiming to show a piglet with human features has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and YouTube. The claim is false as the human-looking creature is actually a silicone sculpture created by Italian artist Laira Maganuco, whose work has already appeared in another online hoax in India.

No, Instagram and Facebook did not remove the verification of Nicolas Maduro’s accounts

Published on 25 January 2019 at 06:58

Several news organizations and individuals, in multiple languages, claimed that Facebook and Instagram had "unverified" Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's accounts on January 23 and given "verified" check marks to those of National Assembly head Juan Guaido, after he declared himself interim president of the oil-rich but economically devastated country. This is false: Maduro was never certified on those platforms, and Guaido was already certified before Wednesday, according to an AFP investigation confirmed by an Instagram spokesperson.

No, this is not a fence on the border of Mexico and Guatemala

Published on 9 January 2019 at 00:49Updated on 24 January 2019 at 15:16

A photo shared on Facebook claims to show a heavily fortified fence on the Mexico-Guatemala border. Mexico has no such border fence with Guatemala, and the photo is actually of a barricade along Israel's border with Egypt.

No, photos from 'yellow vest' protests were not framed by journalists to look more severe

Published on 12 December 2018 at 00:14Updated on 12 December 2018 at 00:14

Tens of thousands of people shared a juxtaposition of two photos from the recent "yellow vest" anti-government protests in Paris, with the caption "Perspective matters." The intent was to condemn media manipulation, but the two photos were taken at two different times, in two different places, and it is not certain whether photojournalists were involved.

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