Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Protests in Austria over the Christmas market attack in Germany.
Fact
Video from July shared out of context.
At least five people, including a nine-year-old child, were killed and scores others injured after a man drove a car into the crowd at a Christmas market in Germany’s Magdeburg on Friday. The accused has been reportedly identified as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006.
As Germany’s far right protesters staged an anti-immigrant protest in Magdeburg, a video is going viral online, purportedly showing a similar rally demanding “remigration”, or return of non-ethnically European immigrants back to their country of origin, in Austria.
Multiple social media users shared the video claiming, “After events in Magdeburg Austrians protest in the streets for remigration of foreigners.” Newschecker, however, found the claim to be untrue.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
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Fact Check/Verification
A Google lens search on the keyframes of the viral video led us to an X post by @AFpost, dated July 20, 2024. Carrying the same video, it stated, “Remigration rally in Vienna today.”
Multiple other X users, such as this, this and this, have shared the video on July 20, 2024.
We then looked up keywords “Remigration protest” and “Vienna” on Google which yielded a report by Associated Press, dated July 21, 2024, detailing a march by “hundreds of right-wing extremists in the Austrian capital.” It also featured an image of a protest similar to the one seen in the viral video with the caption, “Participants of the Identitarian movement take part in a demonstration in Vienna, Austria, July 20, 2024.”
Featuring an image of the rally with participants holding the same banner as seen in the viral clip, a July 2024 report by Austria-based Heute stated, “The Identitarian Movement of Austria (IBÖ) gathered at 3 p.m. for a rally at Michaelerplatz, before moving on towards Freyung. A left-wing counter-demonstration started at Börsenplatz an hour earlier…The Identitarians, right-wing groups and the FPÖ youth protested against the current migration policy. “
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Multiple such images from the July 20, 2024 protest showing the participants of the far-right Identitarian Movement holding the banners identical to the one seen in the viral video have been listed on stock image website Getty Images. Such photos can be seen here, here and here.
We found several visuals from the protest on the X handle of Austria’s Identitarian movement. Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Conclusion
Hence, an old video has been shared to show a protest in Austria against the recent Christmas market attack in Germany.
Result: False
Sources
X Post By @AFpost, Dated July 20, 2024
Report By Associated Press, Dated July 21, 2024
Report By Heute, Dated July 20, 2024
Getty Images
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
