Article on an individual who allegedly decided to get vaccinated after infecting friends is fake
Article on an individual who allegedly decided to get vaccinated after infecting friends is fake
(Reuters) -An image purporting to show an article published by Britain’s ITV News about a man who was allegedly unvaccinated and subsequently decided to get inoculated was digitally altered.
The headline of the screenshot reads: “‘I coughed in the taxi on the way home after a night out and now 3 friends are dead’ - former anti-vaxxer Lee says it took killing his pals to convince him to get vaccinated.”
The ITV News website masthead is visible along with an image of an individual in tears sitting in a car.
Examples of the posts on social media can be seen (here), (here),(here) and (here).
Although the screenshot was fabricated, some online have been duped into thinking it is authentic.
“The media are getting seriously desperate now, pathetic,” one user said in the Facebook comments (here).
The screenshot was digitally altered, and Reuters could not find any such article on the ITV News website. A spokesperson for ITV News also confirmed that the screenshot was fabricated.
“We are aware of a fabricated article currently being circulated online as an ITV News website story. ITV News takes the provision of accurate high-quality news very seriously and as such we are investigating the source of this false story,” the spokesperson said.
The image used in the altered screenshot is also not recent nor relevant to the headline. It originates from a YouTube vlog uploaded in November 2020.
VERDICT
A screenshot claiming to show an article published by ITV News about an individual who allegedly decided to get inoculated after infecting three friends in a taxi was digitally altered.
