Photo of Matt Hancock smiling and holding book titled 'How To Get Away With Murder' is digitally altered

Photo of Matt Hancock smiling and holding book titled 'How To Get Away With Murder' is digitally altered

Photo of Matt Hancock smiling, holding book titled 'How To Get Away With Murder', digitally altered.

(Reuters) - A photo of former British health minister Matt Hancock smiling and holding a book, titled ‘Matt Hancock: How To Get Away With Murder’, is being shared online. However, the image has been digitally altered. The original shows him holding a copy of his newly released ‘Pandemic Diaries’.

One Facebook user, whose post has been interacted with hundreds of times (here), uploaded the photo, without adding a caption.

Some people who commented on it appear to believe the picture is legitimate, with one writing: “With a face like that He is killing Mr (sic) every day.”

A similar iteration can be seen elsewhere on Facebook here, where another user commented: “Hmm in plain sight… mocking us that scam of a man.”

However, the image has been digitally altered to edit his face and the title of the book. The original is on Hancock’s verified Facebook page (here), where he can be seen holding his newly released ‘Matt Hancock: Pandemic Diaries – The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle Against Covid’.

“Delighted to launch my book at the Science Museum last night,” the caption reads.

Deep in the comments of the original Facebook post, the person who uploaded the photo said they edited Hancock’s smile. However, the admission appears to have gone unnoticed by most people sharing and commenting on the post.

VERDICT

Digitally altered. Matt Hancock’s smile and the title of the book have both been edited.