Fact Check: CNN did not praise Taliban for wearing masks, `peaceful takeover'
Social Media users are claiming that the US broadcaster CNN praised Taliban for wearing masks to protect themselves from Covid-19.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 17 Aug 2021 5:27 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Social Media users are claiming that the US broadcaster CNN praised Taliban for wearing masks to protect themselves from Covid-19.
Indian film director Vivek Agnihotri was among many who posted the report on Twitter.
"CNN praises Taliban for wearing masks during butchering of innocent people," he tweeted Monday, to his half a million followers.
Agnihotri's post notched 1,170 shares and 4,000 likes.
Archived link: https://archive.ph/7GUa1
Social media are also sharing a collage of two screenshots claiming to show CNN news tickers praising the Taliban for wearing masks and 'peaceful transfer of power'.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
NewsMeter found that the viral screenshots of CNN news tickers praising the Taliban were morphed. The CNN news ticker reading - Taliban fighters responsibly wearing masks- has been taken from the Christian conservative satire website 'The Babylon Bee' that had published a satire article headlined - "CNN Praises Taliban For Wearing Masks During Attack" with the same viral image.
Next, the second claim photo showing a reporter in the background of a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter flying over the US embassy has been morphed.
The original photo was taken in August 2020 when Jacob S. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and seriously injured by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
CNN was then criticized by right-wing handles for running the news ticker - "Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Protests After Police Shooting" while covering the protests.
In the broadcast, we can spot that there is no news ticker reading, "Violent but mostly peaceful transfer of power" which has been edited in and even the photo of the Chinook helicopter flying has been photoshopped in the viral photo.
Below are the comparison of the original image and viral image.
Hence, the claims are false.
