logo
Altered news report falsely claims victim of Duterte's drug crackdown 'still alive'

Altered news report falsely claims victim of Duterte's drug crackdown 'still alive'

AFP09-04-2025
The TikTok video shared on March 18 shows a screenshot of a broadcast news report with a woman holding the portrait of an alleged drug war victim.
The clip also appears to show the same man -- who claimed to be her ex-boyfriend -- saying she lied that he was killed during Duterte's drug crackdown.
"You even told people that I was dead when I am just here working," he said in Visayan.
The Tagalog-language news chyron says: "Family members of drug war victims believe justice will be served".
The clip also shows text that reads, "Another victim that they claim to be dead but is still alive."
Image
Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken on April 7, 2025
Duterte's supporters published dozens of online posts targeting the families of drug war victims, seeking to discredit their accounts of extrajudicial killings after the former president's arrest (archived link).
Sheerah Escudero, the woman in the video, said people on social media had accused her of being a liar and a drug addict, with some even sending personal messages telling her she deserved to be killed and beheaded.
Her brother Ephraim was found dead in 2017 at the height of the crackdown.
Escudero and other kin of drug war victims filed complaints with Philippine authorities on April 4, demanding an investigation into the threats.
The false video spread elsewhere on TikTok and Facebook.
Comments suggest some users believed the man in the false post was related to Escudero and was still alive.
"File charges on that person who misused your picture...you're not an addict but they made you appear one," one user said.
"They say 30,000 were victims of EJK (extrajudicial killings). And then they show a picture of someone who's still alive," another wrote.
Edited photo
Google keyword searches of the news chyron in the false video found it originated from a report aired by Philippine broadcaster News5 on March 15, 2025 (archived link).
It shows Escudero holding a different picture.
News5 said on its official Facebook page that the false video was edited from "a report aired on #FrontlineWeekend on March 15 about the loved ones of the victims of the drug war" (archived link).
It asked the public to be more critical of social media posts.
Image
Screenshot comparison of the altered post (left) and the News5 video, with altered elements enlarged using the image magnifier tool from The Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify
Subsequent keyword searches led to the same video in a Facebook post uploaded on the account of a digital creator named Jay Borge Mercado Ugay on March 17 (archived link).
A photo similar to the one in the altered video can be seen on his account (archived link).
Escudero took to social media on March 18 to dismiss the false video (archived link).
"When did you become my ex, Jay Borge Mercado Ugay?" she said. "Also, look at that face -- it looks nothing like Ephraim."
Duterte's arrest sparked a firestorm of online misinformation, many of which AFP has debunked.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Gaza: France's unspoken diplomatic resignation in the face of massacres and famine
Gaza: France's unspoken diplomatic resignation in the face of massacres and famine

LeMonde

timean hour ago

  • LeMonde

Gaza: France's unspoken diplomatic resignation in the face of massacres and famine

Is indignation France's only weapon? On Tuesday, July 22, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot once again expressed outrage over the massacres taking place in the Gaza Strip, calling the "new ground offensive" launched by the Israeli army around Deir al-Balah, in the center of the territory, just hours beforehand, "deplorable." Speaking on the radio station France Inter, Barrot also condemned the way Israel has instrumentalized humanitarian aid within the Palestinian enclave through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which he said led to a "bloodbath." "About 900 people" were killed, he said, "as they went to collect a bag of flour and were targeted while in food lines." "I demand that the free and independent press be allowed access to Gaza, to show what is happening there and be able to speak about it," he said. The day before, Agence France-Presse (AFP) had spoken out about the fate of its local collaborators there, warning about the threat of famine devastating the enclave. "Since AFP was founded in August 1944, some of our journalists were killed in conflict (...) but there is no record of us ever having to watch our colleagues starving to death," AFP's journalists' association wrote in a statement published on Monday.

Anti-dog flyer resurfaces online, attracts hateful rhetoric toward Canadian Muslims
Anti-dog flyer resurfaces online, attracts hateful rhetoric toward Canadian Muslims

AFP

timean hour ago

  • AFP

Anti-dog flyer resurfaces online, attracts hateful rhetoric toward Canadian Muslims

"Residents of Vancouver, Canada, have spotted several signs around the city asking people to keep their dogs away, as dogs are considered filthy and 'haram' in Islam," reads the caption of a July 13, 2025 X photo. "Canadians, expected to give UP all you are to become what they fled from." The attached image shows a leaflet asking people to "be courteous to your Muslim neighbours" by keeping dogs on a leash and away from people practicing Islam supposedly due to religious convictions about the animals. Claims about the picture also appeared in online articles and on TikTok and Facebook where it was widely viewed in a post by American conservative commentator David J Harris Jr, who has previously spread misinformation. Comments on some of the posts disparagingly implied owners could bring their dogs wherever they liked and that Muslims needed to assimilate to Canada. Image Screenshot of an X post taken July 22, 2025 Other recent posts shared the image but claimed the flyer was seen in the United Kingdom. AFP previously fact-checked claims in Canada misrepresenting Muslims' beliefs and actions. As the country's once long-standing immigration consensus has broken down, misleading claims frequently circulate on newcomers in general. The recent posts about supposed anti-dog posters are similarly missing context. A reverse image search reveals images of the flyers have been online since 2017. , local media reported on the appearance of the signs at an off-leash park in the town of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, outside of Vancouver. No one ever came forward to claim responsibility for the action, but the City of Pitt Meadows and the non-profit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which were advertised as alleged sponsors of the campaign on the flyer both stated they do not endorse the leaflets' message. The image frequently reappears online and, in an August 2024 statement (archived here), said whoever created the sign was not authorized to use the city's logo and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been aware of the incident since 2017. "Pitt Meadows is a welcoming multi-cultural community and this post does not represent the City or its community members," the statement says. "Like other municipalities, the City of Pitt Meadows has a bylaw that asks dog owners to keep their pets on a leash, except in designated off-leash areas," it adds. The city also noted no physical signs have been found in Pitt Meadows since 2017. AFP reached out to CAIR for comment about the posters and did not receive a response but the non-profit previously told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it did not participate in any sort of flyer campaign, while noting CAIR also speculated France24 reported on the resurgence of the Canadian sign in April 2025, along with several similar hoaxes in the United Kingdom, which were also recently covered by British fact-checking organization FullFact. In February, British organization Tell MAMA reported the highest-ever number of incidents of anti-Muslim hate in the United Kingdom, while Canadian groups have also raised about instances of Islamophobia (archived here). Statistics Canada recorded a steady rise in police-reported hate crimes targeting Muslims between 2020 and 2024, behind the number and increase of anti-Semitic incidents (archived here). Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.

Old video of Museveni falsely linked to Kenya's recent anniversary demonstrations
Old video of Museveni falsely linked to Kenya's recent anniversary demonstrations

AFP

time2 hours ago

  • AFP

Old video of Museveni falsely linked to Kenya's recent anniversary demonstrations

'President Museveni not happy for Kenyan police using excessive force on protesters (sic),' reads the text overlaid on a TikTok video published on July 11, 2025, and shared more than 8,000 times. Additional text overlay quoted in English and Swahili reads: 'Do not point your guns at civilians, they are not enemies,' while the accompanying caption on the post reads, 'Museveni criticized Kenyan President William Ruto for police brutality on protesters.' Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on July 21, 2025 The video shows Museveni dressed in a military uniform, giving an address while holding a Y-shaped stick. 'Even if you're guarding, don't point your gun towards the citizens, direct it at your enemies. Yesterday I was seeing those young boys,' Museveni says in the clip as he makes shooting gestures towards the audience. 'That's very bad orientation. It means you don't know who the enemy is.' 'Even if they say 'control the crowd', your gun should be on your back like this,' he adds, pointing at his own back. Similar claims were published on elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook and X. Shooting orders The video was shared on the heels of Kenya's 35th anniversary of the 'Saba Saba' (Swahili for 'Seven Seven') pro-democracy protests of July 7, 1990, which paved the way for Kenya's multi-party democracy (archived here). This year's Saba Saba commemorations were marked by nationwide protests, characterised by a violent police response, death, looting and destruction (archived here, here and here). Ruto claimed the protests were an attempt by the opposition to 'overthrow' his government, telling the police, 'Anyone who burns down someone else's business and property, let them be shot in the leg and go to the hospital as they head to court. Yes, let them not kill, but shoot and break the legs' (archived here and here). The directive came just weeks after Kenya's minister of interior and national administration, Kipchumba Murkomen, ordered police to shoot anybody approaching a police station, following similarly violent prior protests that saw several police stations vandalised (archived here and here). However, the social media posts with a clip purportedly showing Museveni reacting to the recent events in Kenya are fals Unrelated old video At no point in the clip does Museveni mention Ruto, the Kenyan police or the recent protests. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches for keyframes from the video, and the results established that the clip predates the recent unrest in Kenya. The clip was originally published by Ugandan media outlet NBS Television on January 5, 2020 (archived here). 'President Museveni says that the Police should have their guns behind their backs when asked to control the crowd,' reads the post. VIDEO: President Museveni says that the Police should have their guns behind their backs when asked to control the crowd. @KagutaMuseveni: It means you don't know who the enemy is.#NBSUpdates# — NBS Television (@nbstv) January 5, 2020 In both videos, the Ugandan leader is seen in identical attire, holding the same stick, and standing behind two microphones with yellow mic foam covers. An orange tent is also visible in the background. Image Screenshots comparing the false post (left) and the original clip published by NBS Television At the time, Museveni had embarked on a six-day trek dubbed 'Africa Kwetu' ("Our Africa"), a 195-kilometre walk retracing the route his National Resistance Army (NRA) guerrilla forces took when they seized power in 1986 (archived here). We found no credible source of evidence showing Museveni commenting on the recent demonstrations in Kenya. However, he did speak about Kenya's 2024 anti-tax protests, which culminated in a breach of parliament, warning Ugandan youth against staging similar protests in their own country (archived here and here).

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store