No, this photo does not show a Hong Kong protester hitting away a tear gas canister with a tennis racquet

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 17, 2019 at 09:00
2 min read
By AFP Australia

A photo of a black-clad person preparing to bat away a tear gas canister with a tennis racquet has been shared in Twitter and Facebook posts that claim it shows a protester in Hong Kong. The claim is false; the photo was taken at a 2016 demonstration in the French city of Nantes.

The photo has been shared dozens of times in this tweet by an Australian entertainment site on June 13, 2019, with the caption:

“this protester in #hongkong returned tear gas with a tennis racquet! PC: @Reuters”

Clashes broke out in Hong Kong on June 12, 2019, between police and tens of thousands of protesters who opposed the government’s plans to allow extradition to China. Police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, AFP reported here on June 12.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading tweet:

The same photo and claim were also shared here on Facebook also on June 13, 2019, and elsewhere on Twitter, for example here with the caption: “Brave HK. Putting their forehand skills to good use. #HongKong #extraditionbill #NoChinaExtradition #tennis”.

The claim is false; the photo was taken during an anti-labour reform demonstration in the western French city of Nantes in June 2016.

A Reuters watermark can be seen at the bottom right of the photo in the misleading post. Reverse image searches on Google found the same photo here on the international news agency’s website.

Published on June 2, 2016, the caption and description of the photograph state: “France revolts against labor reform. A protestor uses a tennis racket to return a tear gas canister during a demonstration to protest the government's proposed labor law reforms in Nantes. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe”.

Below is a comparison of the photo in the misleading tweet (L) and the one published by Reuters (R):

A similar photo of a masked, tennis racquet-waving person was also taken by AFP on June 2, 2016. It appears here on the agency’s image website AFP Forum.

The AFP photo caption says: “A protester returns tear gas to French riot police with a tennis racket during a demonstration against the government's planned labour law reforms on June 2, 2016 in Nantes, western France.

“More demonstrations against the reforms which the government says are designed to make France more business-friendly -- were set to take place in major cities on June 2 and nuclear power workers were back on strike at 16 of the country's 19 power stations. JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD / AFP”.

Below is a screenshot of the AFP photo:

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