Fact-check: Was this a thief on a street light in Juba? No.

/in ,

By 211 Check Desk

Introduction

A photo allegedly of a thief on a street light pole avoiding beating in Juba is FALSE.

The photo shared on Facebook on March 28, 2022 by Insight Juba, a news and media website got over 180 interactions, 44 comments and 14 shares.

A screenshot of the misleading post taken on March 29, 2022

It shows a group of people looking up a street light where what looks to be a human is resting.

The post’s picture caption reads: “A thief climbed a street light pole to avoid beating in ( maybe Juba 🤷🏿‍♂️).” 

Findings:

Google reverse image searches found the picture in a tweet from March 08, 2019, by a Kenyan politician.

He captioned the picture. “Roho ni Moja jameni. Pictured is a thief avoiding being lynched by an angry mob.”

The photo was also shared in similar tweets on 23rd March 2022, Mar 12, 2022, here and also here.

Conclusion:

The photo allegedly of a thief on a street light pole avoiding beating in Juba is FALSE. The image is from March 2019 in Kenya.

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

This fact-check has been produced as part of our Africa Fact-checking Alliance incubation program under Code for Africa.

Fact-check: This photo shows a car bombing scene in Kabul, Afghanistan, not a fire outbreak in Juba

/in ,

By 211 Check Desk

Introduction:

A photo shared on Facebook by South Sudan Eye, a page that parades as a personal blog with over 48,000 followers claimed that there was a fire outbreak in Juba last night.

In fact, the picture shows the scene of a car bombing outside a Defense Ministry building in Kabul, Afghanistan in July 2019.

“Juba on fire 🔥,” reads the Facebook post by South Sudan Eye on March 28, 2022 shared more than 5 times with over 290 interactions and 140 comments.

A screenshot of the misleading post taken on March 29, 2022

Juba is the capital city of South Sudan in Central Equatoria State.

The posts circulated after a State of Nation Address on Monday afternoon, in which President Salva Kiir Mayardit assured Juba residents of guaranteed security.

There were fears following deployment of security organs across the city that day.

However, the photo shared by South Sudan Eye on its Facebook page was not taken in Juba yesterday.

Findings:

A reverse image search on Google traced the photo to several news articles from July, 2019 including those by CNN and the New York Times. 

One of the articles is headlined “Kabul blast kills 6, injures 105 people”, referring to the incident from which the photo was taken.

Conclusion:

The photo shared on Facebook claiming that there was a fire outbreak in Juba last night is FALSE. The photo shows the scene of an incident in Kabul, Afghanistan in July 2019.

#FactsMatter, Don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

This fact-check has been produced as part of ourAfrica Fact-checking Alliance incubation program under Code for Africa.