This photo shows a popular YouTube user visiting a temple in Dubai

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 13, 2021 at 10:00
Updated on January 13, 2021 at 10:15
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

A photo of a man in traditional Arab clothing standing next to two Buddhist monks has been shared in multiple Facebook posts that claim that it shows “the king” of the United Arab Emirates in a temple he constructed. The claim is false: the image in fact shows popular YouTube content creator Khalid Al Ameri visiting a temple in Dubai.

The image was published on Facebook here on August 9, 2020.

The post’s Sinhala-caption translates to English as: “Gratitude of Sri Lankans to the King of UAE for constructing a temple in a Muslim country”.

Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on January 7, 2020.

The photo was also shared alongside similar claims on Facebook here, here, here and here.

The claim, however, is false.

A reverse image search found that the photo in fact shows a popular YouTuber named Khalid Al Ameri — not a Emerati monarch.

The photo was published on Facebook here on January 31, 2019, by Lye Ket Yong, the Secretary General of the World Alliance of Buddhists in the UAE.

“Mahamevnawa Buddhist Center, Dubai, UAE. Celebrating Religious Tolerance. A visit by Khalid Al Ameri,” the Facebook post reads in part, alongside a report of the visit by local newspaper Khaleej Times on January 29, 2019.

Below is a screenshot comparison of image in shared in the misleading Facebook posts (L) and the image published in Lye Ket Yong’s post (R):

Screenshot comparison of image in shared in the misleading Facebook posts (L) and the image published in Lye Ket Yong’s post (R)

Khalid Al Ameri is a popular YouTube content creator from the UAE.

He published footage of his visit to the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Center on YouTube here on April 30, 2019.

The current ruler of the Emirate of Dubai is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

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