This video has circulated in reports since 2016 in reports about a woman assaulted in China

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 14, 2021 at 06:00
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

A video has been viewed more than one million times on Facebook alongside a claim it shows CCTV footage of a violent attack on a flight attendant in the Philippines on December 31, 2020, shortly before she died. The claim is false; the video has circulated in reports since 2016 about a Chinese woman being assaulted at a hotel in Beijing.

The video was posted here on Facebook on January 5, 2021. It has been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

A screenshot of the misleading post, taken on January 13, 2021

The video’s caption states: "VIRAL: ACTUAL CCTV FOOTAGE OF MISS CHRISTINE DACERA. ...IS THIS FAKE OR REAL? YOU BE THE JUDGE. #JusticeForChristineDacera #RIPChristineDacera Ctto..of this video.."

The video circulated online shortly after the death of Filipino flight attendant Christine Dacera following a New Year’s Eve celebration. A police investigation has been launched into her death, CNN reported here.

An identical video was also shared here on YouTube alongside a similar claim.

The claim is false.

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes using digital verification tool InVID-WeVerify, followed by keyword searches on Google, found the footage corresponds to the video embedded in this BBC report dated April 7, 2016.

The report links to this Chinese-language post and reads in part: “Footage that appears to show a woman being assaulted in a Beijing hotel has sparked a massive debate in China.

“CCTV footage shows a woman being grabbed and dragged across a hotel corridor, in full view of bystanders.

“Although the incident is still being investigated, it has prompted millions of posts on social media, which have been viewed more than two billion times.”

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the video embedded in the BBC report (R):

Screenshot comparison

The video also appears with the correct caption in this CNN report. The same incident was reported on the same day by AFP here.

This January 7, 2021 report by Philippine news organisation ABS-CBN features portions of surveillance footage taken prior to Decera’s death, showing a different hotel lobby to the one seen in the video in the misleading posts.

The misleading claim was also debunked here by FactRakers, a fact-checking initiative based at the University of the Philippines.

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