On May 7, the Facebook user, Oboladze Gia, posted a photo with the caption: “Beware, they are coming.” The photo shows a group of people wearing different masks. The posted photo gives the impression that it has just been taken and is related to the ongoing protests against the so-called law on agents.
The circulated photo does not depict ongoing protests; it was taken in 2013. It has now been circulated out of context and misleads people.
The banner of former Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the symbol of the ruling party, Georgian Dream, are shown in the upper right corner of the photo circulated on the social network, which casts doubt on the coincidence of the dates of taking and publishing the photo.
An identical photo was published by the online media outlet, Agenda, in 2013. According to the media outlet, the photo was shot on October 31, 2013, on Halloween night in Tbilisi. The people depicted in the photo can be seen in other photos published by Agenda.
In parallel with the protest demonstrations in Tbilisi, disinformative or manipulative information is being intensively disseminated on the social network.
The Myth Detector regularly checks such news for truthfulness and, among other things, has identified a number of visual manipulations:
- HOMOPHOBIC PHOTO MANIPULATION ABOUT PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN TBILISI IS BEING CIRCULATING
- TBILISI OR BARCELONA? WHERE WERE THE IMAGES LINKED TO PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN TBILISI TAKEN?
- WHO FABRICATED THE PROTEST POSTER, WHICH CONCERNS THE EUROPEAN FUTURE OF GEORGIA?
About the source:
The Facebook user, Oboladze Gia, is a supporter of the ruling Georgian Dream party. He was also involved in a campaign to discredit the political opposition, which the Myth Detector revealed. In addition, Oboladze Gia has repeatedly posted misleading information.
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