Photo of Shamima Begum holding 'Vote Labour to bring me home' sign is digitally altered

The photo of Shamima Begum holding her baby was manipulated to include the sign.

(Reuters) - An image of Shamima Begum, a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State, with her baby has been edited to replace her child with a sign saying: “Vote Labour to bring me home”.

One Facebook user uploaded the photo here to a group called ‘Illegal migrants & politically biased media’. A similar post can be seen here.

Both reference a tweet (here), which also includes the picture and has been shared more than 300 times. 

The manipulated image shows the 23-year-old clutching a cardboard sign which reads: “VOTE LABOUR TO BRING ME HOME”.

However, the original photo shows Begum holding a baby wrapped in a blue-and-white-striped blanket (here). It was included in a June 11, 2022, Mail Online article (here), which says the child pictured was her late newborn son.

A similar image of Begum holding her child while dressed in the same clothing and standing in front of the same white tents (here) can be seen in this Mail Online article (here) and is credited to the same photographer.

VERDICT

Digitally altered. The photo of Shamima Begum holding her baby was manipulated to include the sign urging people to vote for Britain’s Labour Party.