Fact Check: This Viral Screenshot of BBC’s Breaking Plate Is Edited
Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be false. The BBC screenshot shared in the viral post is edited.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: June 10, 2021
New Delhi (Vishvas News): A post going viral on social media claims that BBC misled viewers about the number of people who died on May 29, 2021 who participated in anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown demonstrations in London. BBC did so by sharing a screenshot. Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be false. The screenshot shared in the viral post is edited.
Claim
A post shared on Facebook by a user named Becci Greene claimed: “This is how your media lie to you.
The picture on the left is what actually happened. Hundreds of thousands of protesters that brought central London to a standstill.
The picture on the right is how the BBC would report it. But as usual they are silent? No reports on any of the MSM.
What don’t they want you to know? Feel free to see through the lies at any time. What else are they lying about??
DefundTheBBC.”
The archived version of the post can be viewed here.
Investigation
We found the picture of BBC given shown in the post using Google reverse image search. We found a video uploaded on the BBC’s YouTube channel in which glimpses of the image can be seen. This video was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of BBC on April 29, 2020. But, in the video, there was no news of protesters on the breaking plate, but it was written – “Boris Johnson Baby Boy”. The video was about the birth of Boris Johnson’s son. The description accompanying the video read, “Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds have announced the birth of their son.”
The similarity between the viral screenshot and the glimpse of this 2020 video can be seen below.
On searching, we came to know that the name of the anchor seen in the screenshot of BBC in the viral post is Victoria Derbyshire. We reached out to Victoria via Twitter and inquired about this screenshot. She responded by sharing a link of her own tweet with us and said that this screenshot is edited and her tweet can be seen for more details.
Victoria Derbyshire tweeted this photo on June 1 as edited, writing “This photoshopped, fake image is doing rounds:
- I wasn’t working on Saturday
- That’s not the BBC News Channel’s font
- I haven’t worn that dress since last summer
(wld love to meet/int whoever took time/trouble to put this image together – plse do DM in confidence) https://twitter.com/bel_b30/status/1399663026027040769”
When we opened the link of shared by Victoria Derbyshire in her tweet, we found that the tweet on which Victoria Derbyshire had clarified had been deleted. When we searched the link of this tweet in wayback machine, we found this deleted tweet. This tweet also had the same collage with the viral post.
It was clear that the BBC screenshot in the viral post has been edited.
We now searched whether there has been any anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown rally in London recently.
Theguardian.com reported on May 29, 2021, “Hundreds of anti-vaccine passport protesters attacked a mass march on the Westfield shopping center in Shepherd’s Bush on Saturday evening, drawing several thousand people from central and west London.”
The viral post was shared by a Facebook user named Becci Greene. The user is a resident of London.
Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be false. The BBC screenshot shared in the viral post is edited.