CAIRO: A round-up of bogus reports and phony facts in the mainstream and social media.
1 An inaccurate translation of video footage from the “yellow vest” protests claimed that a French police officer warned demonstrators “not to destroy Paris” if they wanted to avoid the same fate as Arab Spring protesters in 2011. The woman was actually a protester herself — and was shouting about police brutality, making no mention about Arabs whatsoever. Several news outlets and social media users circulated the footage with the made-up translation, however. The Arabic website RT tweeted an article about the video, saying: “French policewoman breaks into tears: Come kill me. Don’t destroy Paris like what the Arabs did to their homelands.” The tweet was later replaced.
2 Kuwait’s ambassador to Morocco has denied media reports claiming that Moroccan women are being prevented from entering Kuwait. Abdullatif Al-Yahya said the news published by a Kuwaiti newspaper and circulated by Moroccan media was “baseless.” He stressed that “Moroccans, men and women, go daily to Kuwait, without any problems.”
3 A rumor circulating on social media about famed Saudi actor Nasser Al-Qasabi claimed that he decided to retire. A few hours later, the actor denied the rumors. In June, another false report claimed that Al-Qasabi had died.
