This is a doctored photo of a pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong which includes a message supporting the extradition bill’s withdrawal
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 10, 2019 at 11:00
- 2 min read
- By AFP Australia
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The photo was published in this Instagram post on September 5, 2019.
It shows members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), a pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong, sitting in front of a yellow backdrop with the party’s logo and the message: “success in seeking government withdrawal of extradition law amendment bill” written on it.
The traditional Chinese language caption accuses the DAB of being “unbelievably disgraceful”; the post was uploaded alongside multiple hashtags such as #DAB, #antiELAB, #HongKongpolice and #LiberateHongKongRevolutionofOurTimes.
On September 4, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced she would withdraw the bill, which would have allowed the extradition of some suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China. The bill has sparked three months of protests and violent clashes in the city. Here is an AFP report about the developments.
Below is a screenshot of the post:
The photo has also been shared here on Twitter, here on Instagram and here on Facebook alongside a similar claim.
The claim is false; the photo has been doctored with the message added to a photo of a DAB press conference held in July 2019.
A reverse image search on Google found the original photo published in this press release on the DAB’s website on July 30, 2019.
Below is a screenshot of the photo:
Only the DAB logo can be seen on the plain, yellow backdrop.
The DAB said in this Facebook post published on September 5 that the photo in the misleading post was a “fake online image”.
The September 4 press conference was also streamed live here on the DAB’s official Facebook page. The video is embedded below.
Below is a comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and screenshots of the July 30 (C) and September 4 (R) DAB press conferences:
Hong Kong fact-checking group Kauyim Media also debunked the same photo here.
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