Altered Canadian newspaper headline targets Brampton Hindu statue

"Sooo glad we don't live in Brampton... I mean Bramistan anymore," says a December 22, 2023 Facebook post sharing what appears to be an article from the Toronto Sun. The report claims human feces were found near a towering statue of a Hindu god that is under construction in the city in the Greater Toronto Area.

"'Local Hindu priest says open DEFECATION is an ancient Hindu custom.' Move aside Canadian winter activities, there are some new customs in town," says another post sharing the image to a group with more than 3,100 members.

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Screenshot of a Facebook post taken December 26, 2023

Similar posts spread across Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

The Sabha Mandir Temple in Brampton, Ontario is funding a 55-foot-tall statue of the Hindu diety Hanuman, reportedly the tallest in Canada.

However, Peel Regional Police media relations officer Mandeep Khatra said in a December 26 email no reports of public defecation at the site had been received.

The purported screenshot circulating on social media is digitally altered and was not published by the Toronto Sun, live and archived searches of the paper's website show.

Keyword searches reveal an article with the same photo that was published on December 16 under the headline: "Massive statue of Hindu god being built in Brampton" (archived here).

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Screenshot of the Toronto Sun website taken December 26, 2023

"There is an appalling edited version of this article circulating online," Toronto Sun Editor-in-Chief Adrienne Batra told AFP in a December 26 email. "It is a disturbing trend where online users edit content they disagree with making it appear as original work from trusted media outlets."

Vandalism at Hindu temples throughout the Greater Toronto Area was reported several times in 2023, but AFP did not find reports about incidents at the Sabha Mandir Temple. Indian media reported the temple was increasing security in December amid backlash over the statue. AFP reached out to the temple for more information, but a response was not forthcoming.

The posts, which were also debunked by the Indian fact-checking organizations Boom and the Digital Forensics Research and Analytics Center, gained traction amid a continuing diplomatic row between India and Canada.

In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly linked Indian intelligence to the death of Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was gunned down in June by masked assailants near Vancouver, allegations New Delhi has called "absurd." The tensions have led to online misinformation.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada is available here.