Photo manipulated to show Boris Johnson making Nazi salute

"They are all compromised. Corrupt. And most importantly, CONTROLLED by their masters," says a September 11, 2023 post sharing the image on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

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Screenshot from X, formerly known as Twitter, taken September 13, 2023

The picture spread in various languages across platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Telegram and Truth Social.

Former Brexit Party parliamentary candidate Jim Ferguson amplified it in a since-deleted post on X.

But the image is doctored, a reverse image search revealed.

The Ukrainian TV channel 24 Kanal posted the original photo on September 9 (archived here). The picture shows Johnson standing with his arms at his sides during a ceremony commemorating his receipt of an honorary doctorate from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, a city in western Ukraine near the border with Poland.

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Screenshot from 24tv.ua taken September 13, 2023

A watermark on the altered version of the photo indicates that it originated with "Smak," a Ukrainian-language account that posted it on September 10 (archived here and here).

In a reply to Ferguson's post (archived here), the account admitted to doctoring the original picture of Johnson.

"Bro... I made this photo in Photoshop," the account said.

A live stream of the event on YouTube shows Johnson making no such gesture (archived here).

Reached by AFP, a Johnson spokesman confirmed the politician did not make the salute portrayed online.

"Of course he made no such gesture," Ross Kempsell said in a September 14 WhatsApp message. "It's a fake image."

False claims echoing the Moscow-driven narrative portraying Ukrainian leaders as "Nazis" have flooded social media since the start of Russia's invasion. AFP has debunked other misinformation about the war here.

AFP has also fact-checked other altered images targeting Johnson, including here and here.