A billboard showing Ethiopian heroes from the battle of Adwa was doctored using a stock image

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 9, 2020 at 13:58
Updated on March 9, 2020 at 13:58
3 min read
By Amanuel NEGUEDE, AFP Ethiopia

An image purporting to show a billboard of Ethiopia’s old imperial couple and noted heroes of the Battle of Adwa has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook. The claim that the image was taken in New York’s Times Square is false -- the real image on the billboard was digitally altered.

The image (below) was published in this Facebook post on February 27, a few days before the Adwa victory celebrations.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post, taken on March 3, 2020

The billboard is inscribed with Amharic text at the bottom, which translates as “Adwa”.

The photo has been shared here as well, with the caption: “Celebrating Adwa at Times Square in New York City, NY”.

The picture shows portraits of Emperor of Ethiopia Menelik II and, below him, his wife, Taitu Betul. Both are venerated heroes of the Battle of Adwa, which took place in March 1896 and led to an Ethiopian victory over the Italian army.

The photo purported to show them in Times Square, however, has been manipulated.

AFP ran a reverse image search using TinEye and found the same image altered in various ways.

Screenshot of TinEye search, taken on March 3, 2020

The original picture can be found on Shutterstock, a website that allows users to download stock images. According to the user who uploaded the picture, the image was taken on September 5, 2011.

Screenshot of Shutterstock, taken on March 3, 2020

The photo collage below shows how the original image has been manipulated in different ways.

Screenshot of doctored images, taken on March 3, 2020

Was this picture really taken in New York?

Some details confirm the original image was taken in New York City.

The photo below was uploaded by a user to Pinterest and shows Sbarro Pizzeria, which is also evident beneath the doctored billboard with Adwa’s couple.

Screenshot of Pinterest image, taken on March 3, 2020

Screenshot of doctored picture of Times Square, taken on March 3, 2020

The manipulated image of Times Square was taken on the corner of W47th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.

The Google street view shows how much the neighbourhood has changed in nearly a decade, including the building with the billboard. Some details, however, are still the same.

Screenshot of a Google Street View, W47th St and 7th Av, taken on March 3, 2020

Circled in red are buildings surrounding the big billboard, showing three structures that are visible in the doctored image: the two grey towers behind the billboard, as well as the brown building to the right of the building.

Screenshot of doctored image, taken on March 3, 2020

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