Images of doctored Global News articles circulate online
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 28, 2022 at 22:00
- 3 min read
- By AFP Canada
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"Gardening, canning and other signs of far-right extremism to watch out for," says the headline in an image of a supposed article from Canada's Global News, posted September 24, 2022 on Instagram.
The same photo was shared on Facebook and a forum for supporters of former US president Donald Trump. The image also circulated on Twitter, where an account whose post received more than 1,000 interactions later admitted it was "a joke."
But the headline does not appear on Google, the Global News website or in archived versions of the site.
"We can confirm that the headline and caption in question were never published on our site and they are falsely associated with the Global News brand," said Rishma Govani, a spokesperson for Global News.
Rachel Gilmore, the journalist said to have written the article, posted on Twitter and TikTok to say the image was "fake." She advised people to check her author page on the Global News website to find authentic articles.
On TikTok, Gilmore also debunked a second altered image that appeared to show an article attributed to her. The headline said: "Trudeau's approval rating spikes, reaches record 74% following Poilievre taking reins of CPC."
AFP found no evidence of the article.
That image circulated in Facebook posts, one of which implied Global News' favorable coverage of Canada's prime minister was aimed at receiving a government subsidy.
Global News targeted
This is not the first time AFP Fact Check has identified imposter content, or images created to resemble authentic news stories, misusing the Global News brand.
A third image recently shared across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook bore the headline: "Experts say not including your pronouns in your bio, email signature are a sign of bigotry."
Jeremy Munson, a Republican member of Congress from the US state of Minnesota, amplified the photo on Facebook.
The story is not on Global News' website. Editor Rebecca Joseph tweeted to say the story is "not real," adding that the image led to harassment of reporter Emily Mertz.
AFP has also fact-checked images of fabricated articles falsely credited to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and CTV.
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