Clip shows fatal shooting in Brazil, not India's Bihar state
"In the era of good governance in Bihar, Pawan Dusadh was shot dead in broad daylight. If this murder took place during the reign of Tejashwi Yadav, every media channel would have said 'lawlessness has returned to Bihar'," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post.
The clip, shared with captions raising concerns over public safety in Bihar, shows two people on a motorcycle shooting another person before fleeing the scene.
It has been watched over 112,000 times since it was uploaded on May 30.
Image
Screenshot of the false post, taken on June 11, 2025
Yadav will lead the state opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party to challenge the coalition government -- mainly made up of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- in elections in Bihar expected later this year (archived link).
Leader of India's largest opposition Congress party Rahul Gandhi has accused Kumar of turning Bihar into the country's "crime capital", while BJP leaders in the state said the RJD was responsible for the increasing crime rate (archived here and here).
The footage has circulated with similar claims on Facebook and X.
Comments from users suggest they believed the claim to be genuine.
"Young people who speak up and raise their voices in Bihar are being murdered in this manner to silence them and spread fear, so that the entire society remains intimidated", reads a comment.
Another user wrote, "The common people are not safe at all in Bihar."
But the video shows an incident from Brazil, not Bihar.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found the video was published in a report by Brazilian broadcaster TV Tambau on October 4, 2024 with a headline that reads, "Man is killed on the road while riding a motorcycle in Mandacaru" (archived link).
Image
Screenshot comparison of the false clip (left) and the video report from TV Tambau
Further keyword searches show Brazilian website O Povo PB published a longer clip on October 8, 2024 showing the same scene from a different angle at the 3:09 mark (archived link).
The website identified the victim as 22-year-old Gabriel Junior de Oliveira Medeiros, who was shot dead in the Mandacaru neighbourhood in Joao Pessoa.
Images on Google Street View also show that the video was captured along the Avenida Dom Manoel Paiva in the city (archived link).
Image
Comparison of the false video (left) and images on Google Street View, with similarities highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked other false claims related to Yadav here and here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
5 hours ago
- AFP
Land grab conspiracies spread alongside Canadian wildfires
"This isn't just wildfire policy -- it's a global land control strategy operating through 'sustainability' language," a June 1, 2025 Facebook post claims. The text claims the "Rio Law" is a global framework established to encourage sustainability that can be used to reclassify land in Canada for resource extraction and forbid residents from returning home after they are evacuated due to wildfires. The text spread across Facebook, Instagram and X partly echoing debunked theories about Agenda 21 and moves to push fire-displaced residents into "smart cities" where they will be subjected to strict technology surveillance or face restriction of movement. Simultaneously, users on Facebook and TikTok made additional claims about land grabs precipitated by wildfire evacuations invoking either controversy over Ontario province's Bill 5 or images of a possible pipeline route, which would supposedly cross Manitoba to reach Hudson's Bay. Image Collage of screenshots of Facebook posts taken June 13, 2025 Conditions are primed for another massive wildfire season in Canada, as the over 3.6 million hectares (13.8 thousand square miles) of area burned so far in 2025 has already surpassed the year-to-date average for the past decade (archived here). More than 30,000 people have evacuated their homes in western Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces, including remote Indigenous communities fleeing south. f June 12, some 7,000 evacuees in Saskatchewan province began returning home. Media report people will also soon be allowed to go back to communities Manitoba, but many areas remain under evacuation orders there and in neighboring Ontario. res hit as trade tensions with the United States have triggered the new federal government to open discussions about access to Canadian natural gas and coveted minerals. But the potential projects, including pipelines, raise concerns of environmental impact and Indigenous consent. Nevertheless, experts told AFP it was highly improbable for a wildfire to be used to intentionally target specific areas for resource exploitation. Unforeseeable spread Mike Flannigan a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University (archived here) said a wildfire is defined by three factors: how it starts, what it can burn through, and the weather conditions around it. Many fires are started -- mostly unintentionally -- by humans, he said, but fuel and weather play too large of a role in where flames spread, making it nearly impossible to start a wildfire that could successfully target a premeditated location. Flannigan also pointed out that climate change creates conditions that suck up moisture from vegetation and generate stronger wind, a mix conducive to more unwieldy fires. "The drier the fuel, the easier it is for a fire to start," he told AFP on June 5. Wildland firefighters use burning techniques to impede the path of smaller and less intense fires and keep them away from populated areas (archived here), but Flannigan said once the blazes reach the tops of the trees -- also known as a crown fire (archived here) -- response becomes limited. "There's only two options then: one is evacuate, get out of the way until the weather changes or the fuels change, or do a burnout operation, which is where you get in front, where the wildfire is spreading, start a new fire that's fighting against it," he said. Hossein Bonakdari, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa (archived here), analyzed indicators such as leaf coverage and winter snow area to predict the probability of wildfire in certain parts of Canada. Even with these prediction tools, Bonakdari noted, a plethora of minute variables dictating a wildfire's spread exist, making it impossible to foresee whether it could reach a certain location. "I need a dataset of today to do the prediction for tomorrow," he said on June 6. Resource regulation While the claim that wildfires could be used to clear certain areas for resource extraction may be unsubstantiated, concerns about infringement on Indigenous treaty rights in relation to Ontario's Bill 5 exist (archived here). The legislation gives the province authority to declare "special economic zones" (archived here), overriding local laws for resource projects in a move that Indigenous leaders say will conflict with the government's treaty obligations. Ontario Premier Doug Ford plans, for example, on extracting minerals from the Ring of Fire deposit in the north of the province. Other Canadian premiers also recently floated the idea of a pipeline through Manitoba to end in Hudson's Bay, similar to what has been referenced in some land grab claims online. Using reverse image search, AFP traced the map in those posts to a 2023 blog proposing a path for pipelines (archived here). However, no formalized proposals for such a project could be found. The posts also the 1992 Rio Declaration (archived here). The document produced at the United Nations' Earth Summit does not mention removing people from land. Rather, it lays out principles of protecting environmental and developmental systems, to which it says states should agree. AFP previously debunked claims about resident displacement to extract resources following hurricane evacuations. Read more of AFP's reporting on wildfire misinformation here.
AFP
21 hours ago
- AFP
Picture of Trump 'bestowing medal to S.Korean activist' is doctored
"At first I thought he was full of hot air, but then I saw this photo where Jeon Han-gil received a medal directly from President Trump and I began to believe Trump really is behind him," reads part of the Korean-language caption of a collage shared on Facebook on June 11, 2025. "Lee Jae-myung's government should realise that if it messes with Jeon, it will become enemies with President Trump." to activist Jeon's claims that the United States would if South Korea's newly elected president Lee Jae-myung targets him for supporting for impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol (archived link). The collage shows various screenshots of Jeon talking about and a larger image of him apparently receiving a medal from the US president (archived link). Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on June 12, 2025 The same collage was shared in several Facebook groups supporting conservative politicians. "Wow, an award from Trump himself -- you are a hero to the Republic of Korea," reads a comment on one of the posts. "Any time a South Korean receives an award abroad should be a cause for great celebration," says another. But the image purportedly showing Trump giving Jeon a medal is a fabrication. A combination of keyword and reverse image searches led to a photo taken by a New York Times photographer on November 16, 2018 (archived link). The photo is captioned: "President Trump gave a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Miriam Adelson -- a doctor and philanthropist who, along with her husband, Sheldon Adelson, is a substantial donor to Republican candidates." Image Screenshot comparison of the altered image (left) and the New York Times' photo from November 2018 (right) Footage from the event was also posted on CBS News's YouTube channel, with the moment Trump awards Adelson the medal -- the highest US civilian award -- at the video's 25:05 mark (archived link). Adelson is listed among the official recipients of the medal on the Trump White House website (archived link). Jeon's name does not appear on the list. The image of Jeon used in the doctored image matches his profile picture from the website of a civil service cram school, where he previously taught Korean history (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and Jeon's profile image on a cram school website (right) other doctored images involving Trump and South Korean political figures, including similar manipulated visuals falsely showing Trump in a video conference with Yoon.
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Posts falsely claim Namibia has announced ban on US gas and oil exploration
'Namibia cancelled contract with US from Mining their OIL & GAS,' reads an X post published on May 30, 2025. With more than 16,000 likes, the post adds: 'They ended the Oil & Gas contract with the US and told the US Government to immediately stop all Mining Operations in Namibia as Namibia ventures into State-owned mining operations.' Image Screenshot of the false X post, published on May 28, 2025 The post includes side-by-side photos of Namibia's President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and US President Donald Trump. Similar posts were shared thousands of times more on X and other platforms, including Facebook, TikTok and blogs. Nandi-Ndaitwah, who was elected in March, placed the country's oil and gas industries under direct presidential control the day after her inauguration. They previously fell under the Ministry of Energy and Mines (archived here). However, the government has not announced the cancellation of any energy contracts with the United States. No announcements A keyword search for 'Namibia cancels oil and gas with the US' turned up more posts repeating the false claim, as well as articles debunking it (archived here). The posts began circulating at about the same time as claims debunked by AFP Fact Check alleging that Namibia had announced the deportation of 500 Americans. As reported by AFP in April, Nandi-Ndatiwah explained that the oil and gas sector had the potential to transform Namibia's economy within the next five years by securing energy supplies and creating jobs (archived here). 'Mining contributes 12 percent to our gross domestic product and over 50 percent of our foreign exchange earnings. Regrettably, this figure does not reflect the true potential of mining and our mineral resources,' she was quoted as saying. On May 30, 2025, her presidency responded to the viral posts by labelling them 'fake news' (archived here). Namibia's presidency reiterated this to AFP Fact Check on June 4, 2025. 'The Namibian government has not at any point cancelled any contracts with investors from the United States in the mining, oil and gas sectors,' said press secretary Alfredo Hengari. He added that 'it is not the policy of the government to cancel contracts that are binding'. A US State Department spokesperson told AFP Fact Check on June 11, 2025: 'The online claims that Namibia has cut off the United States from mining and gas are false.' Foreign investment Contrary to the claim, Namibia has become a global exploration hotspot with several international gas and oil companies actively exploring its coasts in recent years (archived here). At the start of 2025, American firm Chevron announced that it had not found commercially viable gas in Namibia's Orange Basin By April, however, the company confirmed it would continue exploration in the Walvis Basin in 2026 or 2027, where firms including TotalEnergies, Shell, and Galp have made discoveries. Similarly, British multinational Shell deemed its Namibia oil discoveries uncommercial due to high gas levels in January. However, France's TotalEnergies believes it can handle these geological challenges, but its investment decision hinges on maintaining production costs below $20 per barrel (archived here). Another American corporation, ExxonMobil, is investigating (here and here) the country's potential in the Namibe Basin (archived here and here). The state itself, through the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), holds a 10 percent stake in its exploration partnership with TotalEnergies (50.5 percent), QatarEnergy (30 percent) and Impact Oil and Gas (9.5 percent) (archived here). As a top uranium producer, Namibia also announced in April 2025 that it will launch talks this year on its first nuclear energy plant, seeking to exploit its rich natural wealth to transform its economy (archived here).
