Myanmar military coup

This image has been doctored -- a Myanmar monk did not 'make the TIME100 list'

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on October 4, 2021 at 08:58
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Thailand

Copyright © AFP 2017-2024. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.

An image has been shared repeatedly in multiple Facebook posts that claim it shows TIME magazine listed a Buddhist monk aligned with the Myanmar military as among its 100 most influential people in 2021. However, the claim is false. The monk was not named as part of the TIME100 list in 2021, the magazine told AFP. The picture has been doctored from an image shared on the monk's official Facebook page.

The image was published here on Facebook on September 28, 2021. It has been shared more than 300 times.

It purports to show Buddhist monk Ashin Nyanissara -- more commonly known as Sitagu Sayadaw -- standing in front of a Buddhist archaeological site in Uzbekistan.

Despite it being daylight in the pictured scene, a full moon appears to be visible overhead.

Sitagu Sayadaw is one of the most influential Buddhist leaders in Myanmar. He aligned himself with the country's military after the February coup, US magazine Foreign Policy reported.

The post's Burmese-language post caption translates to English as: “Even the Moon bows its head to [the monk]. It has been revealed that the world-famous TIME magazine reported today that the Moon appeared as a beautiful circle at noon in a photo that shows Sitagu Sayadaw from Myanmar. Scientists were astonished".

Screenshot taken on September 29, 2021, of the misleading post

Text in the top left-hand corner of the image reads: "TIME 100".

TIME 100 is TIME Magazine's list of the most influential people in the world.

The photo circulated among social media users in Myanmar after TIME released its list for 2021.

The same image was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here, here, here, and here.

However, the claim is false.

A representative from TIME magazine told AFP: "Sitagu Sayadaw is not featured on the 2021 TIME100 list and the image featured in this post was not created by TIME".

A keyword search confirmed Sitagu Sayadaw was not included in the magazine's list for 2021.

Two Myanmar pro-democracy activists -- Esther Ze Naw Bamvo and Ei Thinzar Maung -- did in fact feature in the list.

Altered image

The image in the misleading posts has been digitally altered to include the Moon.

Another keyword search found the original image was published here on Sitagu Sayadaw's official Facebook page on June 6, 2021.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image (L) and the photo on Ashin Nyanissara's Facebook page (R):

Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (L) and the photo of Venerable Ashin Nyanissara Facebook page (R)

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

Contact us

Next article Previous article