WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
Does this photo going around show a recent crowd of protesters in Berlin, Germany?
ANSWER:
No.
SOURCES:
Street Parade media team
PROCESS:
People online are sharing a photo of a crowd, and saying it shows anywhere from 17,000 to 1.3 million people protesting against current COVID-19 restrictions in Berlin, Germany.
Our Verify team looked into the origins of this viral photo to determine whether it shows recent coronavirus protests in Berlin.
Verify researchers started by looking at comments on posts and tweets online.
In several comments, some people claimed that the photo was taken at an event in Zurich, Switzerland, called “Street Parade.”
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When our Verify researchers went to the parade’s official website, we found the same photo.
The Street Parade media team told our researchers the photo was taken on Aug. 13, 2018.
So we can Verify that the photo going around currently is from a parade almost two years ago in Zurich, Switzerland, and not a COVID-19 protest in Berlin, Germany.
There are many ways to fact-check the authenticity of a photo. One incredibly valuable tool is a 'reverse image' search engine, such as TinEye and Google.
Rather than typing in a word, one can upload a photo to these platforms, and the database will show various other times that the photo has been posted online.
The Verify team also recommends considering the source with each photo. People should be especially skeptical of a photo if there is no source listed.