Australian politician hit by fake article claiming he referred to unvaccinated with racial slur
Facebook posts circulating in Australia purport to a show an article reporting that Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria state, referred to unvaccinated people using a racial slur. However, the article is fabricated to look like a report by 7NEWS, which said it did not publish any such story. Keyword searches found the purported article does not correspond to any report on the broadcaster's website.
ATTENTION: This article contains offensive language.
The screenshot, which was shared on Facebook on November 27, purports to show a news report claiming that Andrews used a racial slur to refer to unvaccinated people and said they "should drink from separate water fountains".
The screenshot features the logo of Australian broadcaster 7NEWS alongside publication details: "Published: 23/11/2021 / Updated: Tuesday, 23 November 2021 2:46 PM AEDT".
The Facebook post reads: "Daniel Andrews, the virus has never been isolated and we are tired of the shame game!! Your disrespect is atrocious. It is time that you stood down with your cronies".
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The screenshot was also shared in similar posts here and here.
However, the report is fabricated.
"I can confirm that screenshot is fake," a spokesperson for 7NEWS told AFP on November 30.
A keyword search on the 7NEWS website found an article with the same publication details as the fabricated report. However, the headline reads: "Daniel Andrews ‘can’t rule out’ COVID-19 vaccine rules for kids aged under 12, says it is too early to make the call".
Below is a comparison between the fabricated report (left) and the genuine 7NEWS article (right).
Keyword searches on Google did not find credible reports about Andrews referring to unvaccinated people using a racial slur.
A reverse image search found the image of Andrews in the fabricated report was taken in 2017 by an Australian Associated Press photographer.
Andrews' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
December 2, 2021 This article was updated to remove quotations that contained the racial slur.
