Posts falsely claim South Korean broadcaster promoted 'fundraiser for Hamas'

"I'm speechless... MBC is raising funds on behalf of the Hamas terrorists," reads the Korean-language caption with an image shared on YouTube here on October 15, 2023.

The image appears to show a screenshot of footage from an MBC news broadcast. A photo of a bombed out city is overlaid with text that reads: "MBC Special - information on emergency fundraising to support [Hamas]."

The post was shared just over a week after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering a war that has killed thousands of civilians on both sides.

The attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, saw Hamas gunmen storm across the border from Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment that Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said killed more than 7,000.

In South Korea, the government has condemned the Hamas attack, but there have also been rallies organised by civic groups and Muslim residents criticising Israel's bombing of Gaza (archived links here and here).

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A screenshot of the false claim on YouTube, captured on October 22, 2023

Similar false claims about MBC and Hamas have been shared on Facebook here and here, as well as here on X, formerly Twitter.

Comments on these posts suggest several users believed the image showed a genuine broadcast from MBC, which has been at odds with South Korea's government after President Yoon Suk Yeol accused the broadcaster of inaccurate reporting last year (archived link).

"Wow... MBC has gone far beyond what it takes to be shut down," reads one comment.

"And they call themselves a broadcaster?" wrote another user. "They are sending donations to murderers who will buy weapons of murder."

'Completely baseless'

An MBC spokesperson told AFP the claim circulating online is "completely baseless", saying the corporation had never broadcast the image or purported chyron.

MBC "has never organised a fundraiser in relation to the ongoing conflict", the spokesperson said on October 23.

A closer analysis of the image in the false posts shows differences with typical MBC news broadcasts. Genuine broadcasts include the channel's logo in the top-right corner, while the chyron uses a different font.

Below is a comparison between the purported screenshot used in the false posts (left) and footage from a real MBC news broadcast on the conflict from October 17 (right):

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A screenshot comparison between the false post (left) and a genuine MBC news broadcast (right)

A reverse image search found the photo used in the false posts corresponds to an AFP picture from October 10 showing the rubble of a mosque in Gaza City destroyed during Israeli air strikes a day earlier (archived link).

A search for broadcasts promoting a fundraiser for Hamas on MBC's website and YouTube channel did not turn up any results (archived links here and here).

Separate keyword searches found no report from other sources about MBC organising or advertising a Hamas fundraiser.

The broadcaster lists its charitable projects and contributions on the MBC website, but there is no mention on the page of any campaign organised for groups outside South Korea (archived link).