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No, This Viral Video Does Not Show Nude Iranian Protestors; Viral Video Is From 2019 Chilean Protests
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 16 Oct 2022 7:26 AM GMT
Editor : Bharat Nayak |
As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
We found that the protests seen in the viral video are from the 2019 protests in Chile. The protests were against the former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera.
A video showing a group of women protesting nude is going viral across social media. The video is being circulated with the claim that it shows topless women protesting against the hijab policy in Iran.
On September 16, the morality police in Iran arrested Mahasa Amini after she was accused of wearing her hijab improperly. Her death in police custody has sparked protests across Iran, where women are ripping off their mandatory headscarves and shouting anti-government slogans.
Claim:
In the viral video, a group of nude women can be seen hunched on their knees. They are approached by a large makeshift puppet dressed in green clothes holding a gun. The gun is controlled by another puppet adorning a suit and tie. As the green puppet points the gun to the nude women, they are seen walking away. Both the puppets follow in their footsteps.
The caption of the viral video states, "Anti Hijab protest now escalated to a Topless protest in Iran* From removing of the hijab to throwing off the hijab into the fire of hijab ... and from opening of the face, it went further to the opening of breasts till the waist!! And latest, it went total nudity. Hijab se Azadi."
Another caption circulating with the viral video reads, "_*Anti Hijab protest now escalated to a Topless protest* From removing of the hijab to throwing off the hijab into fire of hijab... and from opening of the face, it went further to the opening of breasts till the waist!! And latest, it went total nudity. Iranian Heroines.."
It is being shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral video is from the 2019 protests in Chile.
We used InVid's Keyframe analysis tool to break down the viral video into its keyframes. We came across this article in the Spanish news outlet ADN published on December 15, 2019.
The headline of the report reads, 'Powerful representation of the repression during the crisis was performed with giant dolls'. The ADN report refers to the video where the large puppet can be seen firing his mock weapon at women who escape naked from the uniformed officer. In the thumbnail, the same footage from the viral video can be seen.
The article notes that the women took to the streets protesting against previous Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and Carabineros, the national law enforcement police of Chile. The protest occurred in front of the Catholic University of Chile.
The article states, "Behind him, a large figure of President Sebastián Piñera controls the strings of the police officer. The spectators look with respect at the demonstration that is accompanied by a drum that symbolises the shots of the carabinero."
We also came across a tweet by El Cooperante (Translation to The Cooperator in Spanish), a Spanish news outlet based out of Venezuela.
The translated caption of the tweet read, "The strange "naked" protest of young people against Sebastián Piñera". The tweet carried a link to an article published in El Cooperante on 26 November 2019.
The translated article by El Cooperante reads, "A group of feminist women held a striking protest in Chile, within the framework of the social conflict that continues in the South American nation against President Sebastián Piñera."
The article's thumbnail shows a screengrab from the viral video. As per the El Cooperante article, these protests were caused due to social inequality in Chile. Reportedly, at least 25 people died in the protest against the security forces government led by then president Sebastián Piñera.
We conducted a keyword search with relevant terms such as, 'naked women protests in Chile', to obtain more information about these protests.
We came across a report published by The Sun on 26 November 2019, titled, 'STANDING STRONG: Naked women take part in a rally marking the international day to end violence against women amid ongoing protests in Chile'
The article states that nude women protested in Santiago, Chile, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which is observed on November 25 every year. The Sun article states that on November 25, 2019, protests were launched against the then-Chilean government, specifically against Chile's former President Sebastián Piñera.
Through these articles, we learned that the protest seen in the viral video took place near Universidad Católica de Chile located in Santiago. We then searched for the university on Google Maps and came across a Google Street View of the location. On comparing the backdrop of the viral video and the Street View, we noticed that the locations were the same.
To obtain more information regarding the 2019 protests in Chile, we came across a report by Al Jazeera published on 30 October 2019. The report detailed that the protests in Chile started as a demonstration led by students against transport fares.
As per the Al Jazeera report, additional reasons for the protests were the increasing cost of living, a struggling public health system, a lack of education rights, low wages and pensions, and severe inequality. In December 2021, former student leader Gabriel Boric was elected as the Chilean president. Under Boric's government, a referendum to approve the new Constitution was held in September 2022
Conclusion:
In our Fact Check, we found that the protests seen in the viral video are from the 2019 protests in Chile. The protests were held in front of the Universidad Católica de Chile located in Santiago. The protests were against the former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera. The large-scale unrest in Chile took place due to several reasons such as a lack of education rights, a struggling public health system, increasing cost of living, low wages and pensions, and severe inequality. Thus, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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