This photo of football star Mesut Ozil has been doctored to include the image of a Chinese flag
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on January 6, 2020 at 08:40
- 4 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa, AFP Indonesia
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The photo appeared here on Facebook on December 23, 2019.
The photo’s caption reads: “Chinese flag thanks Ozil”.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
Mesut Ozil is a German footballer who plays for Arsenal Football Club.
As a Muslim of Turkish descent, he has condemned China’s crackdown on Uighur Muslims and criticised Muslim countries for failing to speak up about the alleged abuses on his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, as reported by AFP in this article published on December 16, 2019.
The same photo was shared with a similar claim in Indonesian language on Facebook here and here, as well as in Arabic here and here. The posts were shared more than 11,000 times.
#HayırlıCumalarDoğuTürkistan ?? pic.twitter.com/dJgeK4KSIk
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) December 13, 2019
The claim is false; the image in the misleading posts has been doctored.
A reverse image search on Google followed by subsequent keyword search found this original picture posted on Ozil’s official Instagram account on October 7, 2019. The image has been embedded below.
The photo’s caption reads: “M10TR”.
There is no Chinese flag in this photo.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading posts (L) and the original photo (R):
AFP reported China has been accused to detain Uighur Muslims in detention camps and prisons in Xinjiang. Researchers and activists have said they suspect between one to three million people have been detained in the camps.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
