Artwork shared with false claim it shows 'genuine highway built to bend around a tree'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on September 5, 2023 at 11:11
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka, AFP South Korea

An image that appears to show a highway that curves to avoid a tree has been shared thousands of times with a false claim that it shows a road in real life. However, the image's creator in South Korea told AFP it was a piece of digital artwork created to raise awareness of logging and deforestation and does not show an actual road.

The image has been shared over 2,000 times since it was posted on Facebook on August 19.

"People who understand the value of a tree. Engineers that saved the life of a tree," reads its Sinhala-language caption.

English text overlaid on the image also says: "Road engineers make the decision to respect a tree's life."

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on August 22, 2023

The post surfaced after Sri Lanka's government came under criticism in July as the country cut down a tree -- described as the world's only known wild specimen of a species of legume -- to make way for a new highway. AFP reported transport minister Bandula Gunawardana said in Colombo that the cabinet had approved the removal of the tree.

Users appear to believe the image in the misleading post shows a real highway built around a tree to avoid having to cut it down.

"Good lesson for our rulers who destroy every tree in sight including the protected species," one wrote.

"What a valuable lesson. Please show this to Bandula," said another.

The image was also shared alongside a similar claim here and here and by other Facebook users in Pakistan, New Zealand and Nigeria.

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However, a reverse image search found the same picture was uploaded here on a website called Jeski Social Campaign with a caption in Korean that reads: "Every single tree is precious" (archived link).

According to the website, the firm focuses on public service advertising campaigns on social problems including those on the environment (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in one of the false posts (left) and the picture from Jeski Social Campaign (right):

Image shared with the false claim (left) and picture published by the Jeski Social Campaign (right)

The firm's founder Jeseok Yi -- also known as Jeski -- told AFP he created the image in 2007 to raise awareness on logging and deforestation.

He said it is not based on any photo and "does not depict any existing scene".

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Artwork shared with false claim it shows 'genuine highway built to bend around a tree'

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