Since December 28, 2017, a wave of protests has swept Iran. Citizens have broadcast dozens of videos online showing the demonstrations and the resulting police crackdown. As ever in these kinds of situations, there have also been many fake photos and videos circulating, not only on social media but also mistakenly shared by journalists and in mainstream media across the world. I have done a round-up of some of the most widely shared fake images around the Iranian uprising.

Iranian women may be brave – but this one is an actress

This photo showing an example of “brave Iranian women” who fight back against the heavy-handed crackdown by the authorities has been touted as one of the most inspiring images to come out of the uprising. Many journalists have shared it on Twitter or Facebook.

But the photo actually comes from the state-funded film “Golden Collar”: a piece of propaganda against the 2009 “Green Movement” uprising that was screened in cinemas in 2012. During the Green Movement, thousands of Iranians hit the streets to demand a vote recount in the presidential election, convinced that the reformist candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi must have won against the ultraconservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had been declared the winner. The protests were brutally repressed.

“Policia” amigo!

Many social media users claimed that this video shows Iranian riot police looting a shop.

Initially published on France24 on 01/03/2018
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