AFP Sri Lanka

These images have circulated in reports about damaged roads in Bangladesh and Malaysia

Published on 22 May 2020 at 10:05

Two images of dilapidated roads have been shared in multiple Facebook posts alongside a claim they were captured in Sri Lanka. The claim is misleading; one of the images has circulated since at least December 2019 in Malaysia-based social media posts; the other image has circulated since 2016 in reports about a road in Bangladesh.

This video has circulated in reports about sloth bears in India before the coronavirus pandemic

Published on 18 May 2020 at 04:45

A video of three sloth bears has been viewed thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim it was captured in Sri Lanka during a curfew implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic. The claim is false; the clip has circulated in reports about sloth bears in south India since November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic; a Sri Lankan wildlife activist told AFP it would be "highly unlikely" to see sloth bears in the Sri Lankan town which was cited in the misleading social media posts.

These videos show victims of a gas leak at a chemical plant in India in May 2020

Published on 13 May 2020 at 08:00

Three videos have been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim they show people who died after contracting the novel coronavirus in India. The claim is false; the videos show the victims of a major gas leak at a chemical plant in India in May 2020.

This video shows victims of a gas leak at an Indian chemical plant

Published on 13 May 2020 at 07:20

A video has been viewed thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook which claim it shows novel coronavirus victims in India. The claim is false; the video shows victims of a major gas leak in an industrial port city in south India in May 2020.

This 2019 photo has been doctored to include a COVID-19 reference

Published on 13 May 2020 at 06:30

A photo has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim it shows a placard with a message congratulating Sri Lankan leaders for "eradicating" the novel coronavirus. The claim is false; the photo has been doctored to include a COVID-19 reference; the original photo of a political placard was taken by AFP in November 2019 following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election victory.