The Economist did not remove Palestinian flag from cover

Published on August 27, 2024 at 11:05
Updated on August 28, 2024 at 03:58
2 min read
By Celine SEO, AFP Indonesia

The Economist magazine did not edit a photo featured on its front page about anti-government protests in Bangladesh to remove a Palestinian flag, contrary to false social media posts shared worldwide. The photo published by AFP did not feature a Palestinian flag, however, the photographer did capture another image of the scene in which the flag was visible.

"For this cover, The Economist deliberately edited and removed the Palestinian flag from the original photo," read an Indonesian post on X, formerly Twitter, that shared the photo on August 11.

The image shows anti-government protesters in Bangladesh holding the national flag from the rooftop of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's residence.

Student protests that began in July with calls for the scrapping of quotas for civil service jobs snowballed into a revolution that toppled Sheikh Hasina and ended her 15-year-long iron-fisted rule (archived link).

A screenshot of the false X post captured on August 26, 2024

False claims that The Economist doctored the photo circulated across X, Facebook and Instagram, and around the world, including in Australia and South Korea.

One post said the photo showed "fake hands and legs" and claimed the Palestinian flag had been "erased with AI".

However, the original photo published by AFP does not feature the Palestinian flag.

Not photoshopped

AFP published the photo on August 5 after Sheikh Hasina was ousted and fled the country.

According to the photo caption, it was taken that same day.

"Anti-government protestors display Bangladesh's national flag as they storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka on August 5, 2024," it read.

Screenshot of the photo in AFP's archives

The photographer K M Asad, who sold the photo to AFP, confirmed the Palestinian flag did not feature in it.

"I can assure you that when I was on the spot, no one was there with those two flags hanging and 'The Economist' did not photoshop the image," he posted on Instagram (archived link).

A spokesperson for The Economist also told AFP "this was not an altered photo".

While the Palestinian flag did not feature in that particular photo, it was genuinely raised during the raid on Hasina's house, as seen in another photo taken by K M Asad (archived link).

Videos posted online also showed the Palestinian flag at the scene (archived here and here).

AFP has fact-checked more misinformation around the Bangladesh protests here.

August 28, 2024The story was updated with a comment from The Economist

August 28, 2024 The story was updated with a comment from The Economist

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