Numerous accounts on social media circulated a photo, with those publishing it claiming that it documented a demonstration against the Syrian government over hunger, thirst and poor living conditions in the town of Al-Sukhnah in the eastern Homs countryside.
The fact-checking team carried out a digital verification through a reverse image search using Google Lens, alongside a keyword search and a matching of the landmarks visible in the photo against open sources. A video was found whose landmarks match those visible in the circulating photo, and it emerged that it dates back to demonstrations in the Al-Sabkhah area in the eastern Raqqa countryside against currency replacement measures. Based on the results of the digital verification and the tracing of the source, the photo was taken out of its geographic and factual context.
Why is this claim misleading?
Changing the context: The claim relied on a genuine photo of demonstrations that took place in the eastern Raqqa countryside for a different reason, reattributing it to the town of Al-Sukhnah in the Homs countryside and linking it to hunger and poor living conditions, in order to suggest protest activity that did not take place at that location.
