AN IMAGE THAT has been shared on social media in recent weeks purports to show a headline from a US newspaper report about a ‘massive refugee movement’ to Europe.
The headline states: “UN Warns of Massive Refugee Movement from Africa: 500 Million People On Their Way to Europe.”
One post alone that shared this image on Twitter had been retweeted more than 600 times.
The United Nations has made clear it never made any such statement and the headline – or any accompanying news article – was never even published by a news website.
The screenshot uses the same typeface as the New York Post newspaper and has the byline of a real reporter from that publication.
The Post has since confirmed to Reuters and Association Press that it never published an article with this headline and that the image has been manipulated.
Another article by the credited reporter, which is completely unrelated to the topic, was published at the same date and time shown in the doctored screenshot. It appears that this article was used as a template and the headline and photograph were switched out.
A spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR) confirmed to The Journal it has “not issued such a statement”.
“Misinformation and disinformation can lead to deadly consequences for people forced to flee,” they said. “If people see online posts that raise doubts about their origin or accuracy, they should pause before sharing so that they can question and verify the information.”
Twitter has labelled posts containing this content as ‘manipulated media’ to flag it for users.
In order for content with misleading media to be labelled or removed under Twitter’s policy, it must:
According to data from the International Organisation for Migration, as of 20 June, 54,038 migrants – from all over the world – have travelled to Europe so far in 2022.
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