Accounts and pages on social media circulated a report attributed to "Syria TV", to the effect that Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had announced he was leaving his post following his failure to manage the country's affairs, coinciding with a 200% rise in fuel prices since he took office.
The fact-checking team examined the circulating report by contacting an official source at the Ministry of Energy, who denied to "Kashaf" that the reports were true, stressing that what is being circulated has no basis. A review of the official page and digital handles of "Syria TV" showed that the channel had never published the report, and the review also showed clear differences in font and design compared with the channel's original template, most notably the word "breaking" appearing in red in the circulating image, whereas it is written in white in Syria TV's approved designs.
Why is this claim misleading?
Falsely attributed to a trusted source: A report about the energy minister's resignation was invented and designed by exploiting the visual identity of "Syria TV" to give the impression that it was reliable.
