Videos filmed in France and Canada misrepresented as showing protesters in Iran
- Published on January 15, 2026 at 09:16
- 3 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India
As Iranians took to the streets in defiance of a crackdown on protests sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, videos were shared in social media posts falsely claiming they showed women at the demonstrations in the Islamic republic. The clips in fact show people in France and Canada expressing their solidarity with the protest movement in Iran.
"A girl in Iran breaks free from hijab and Islamic fundamentalism at a protest site," reads part of the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook video shared on January 12, 2026.
The video shows a woman removing her headscarf and trench coat during a rally, as a crowd cheers her on.
Another video shared in an X post on January 10 shows a woman burning an image of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Hindi-language caption of the video reads: "This video is from Iran. A girl is burning Khamenei's image while smoking a cigarette. The fire of rebellion against Iran's hardline ruler has been lit."
The videos also circulated elsewhere in similar Facebook, Instagram and X posts as protests in Iran, driven by dissatisfaction at the country's economic stagnation, gained momentum even as authorities cracked down on the demonstrations (archived link).
The nationwide protests have grown into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocracy with growing calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution (archived link). Iranian authorities have blamed foreign interference for stoking the unrest and staged their own nationwide counter-rallies.
Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, said security forces have killed at least 3,428 protesters and arrested more than 10,000 (archived link).
The circulating videos, however, were not filmed in the Islamic republic.
Paris protest
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video of the woman removing her headscarf found the clip was posted on the verified Instagram account of a user based in France on January 11 (archived link).
The Instagram clip is captioned: "Support Iran against Islamic tyranny."
The user who posted the video told AFP she is a French LGBTQ+ activist and spokesperson for Collectif Éros, a Paris-based association that campaigns against LGBTQ+ extremism and Islamism.
The protest took place in Paris on January 11, she said on January 13, adding: "This gathering was organised by Homaa Association which unites Iranians living here in France and French allies to spread awareness about the Iranian revolution.
"So Homaa let me do this action on their truck as a symbol of support."
Elements of the video also match Google Street View imagery of the protest site (archived link).
Video from Canada
A separate reverse image search using keyframes from the video of the woman burning an image of Iran's supreme leader led to the same clip shared in an X post on January 9 (archived link).
A subsequent keyword search found the user had been interviewed about the video by Spanish news website The Objective on January 13 (archived link).
The Observer article said the woman is an Iranian woman who has been living in exile in Canada.
Portuguese fact check outlet Lusa debunked the claim it showed a protester within Iran, geolocating the video to a car park in Richmond Hill, on the outskirts of Toronto, Canada (archived link).
Background elements in the circulating video correspond to Google Street View imagery from the city (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false claims about the Iran protests.
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