Hoax circulates that US Embassy in Myanmar has issued security alert warning of 'potential attacks'
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 6, 2020 at 11:10
- 2 min read
- By AFP Myanmar
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The video was published here on Facebook on June 16, 2020. It has been viewed more than 67,000 times and shared over 2,600 times.
The 53-second video shows a section of a news report by Myanmar National Television (MNTV) that features a screenshot of the purported security alert issued by the US Embassy. The video's voiceover states, in part: “The US Embassy in Yangon has announced a statement to be aware of security conditions in three major cities including Yangon because of the potential attacks.”
The Burmese-language caption of the post translates to English as: “Please be aware. Za. 16 6 2020”.
The video has also been shared here, here, and here on Facebook, alongside a similar claim.
The claim is misleading.
A keyword search found an identical video published here on the MNTV News Facebook page on September 26, 2019.
The title of the video reads: “26.9.2019 News / American embassy warmed to have security awareness in three cities including Yangon #mntv1pmnews”.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the MNTV video (R):
A further keyword search found the purported US Embassy statement here. The statement is dated September 25, 2019.
The release reads, in part: “Myanmar security forces are investigating reports of potential attacks in Nay Pyi Taw on September 26, October 16, and October 26, and in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, and Mandalay in the coming months.”
The Myanmar Times reported on the warning message in an article published here in September 2019.
A search of the US embassy's website for updates on a security alert in June 2020 retrieved no results.
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