Misleading: This photo does not show Afghans waiting for a plane in Kabul
By Justin Cheung 張晉庭 and Gigi Tang 鄧曉賢
A tweet on Aug. 16 claimed an image of people standing on mobile aircraft boarding stairs at the airport in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, shows a scene after an airplane took off without them.
The tweet, when translated to English, reads “Kabul Airport. The plane flew away! (喀布爾機場，飛機飛走了! )” It gained 152 retweets and 520 likes. It was tweeted by Liu Xiaoyuan, a former Chinese human rights lawyer.
The same photo has circulated on other social media platforms like Weibo and Facebook.
State-owned China Global TV Network (CGTN) also posted the photo on its Facebook page on Aug. 17, alongside a commentary on the recent situation in Afghanistan where hundreds of civilians attempted to board planes to leave the country following the takeover by the Taliban.
The image, however, was not taken recently but is actually a screenshot of a scene in a video released in 2007.
The video titled “Centro di Permanenza Temporanea” (Temporary Detention Centre) was filmed by Albanian artist Adrian Paci in 2007. It was shot in San Jose, California, not in Afghanistan.
The video was described as a “piece shot” aiming to show the plight of migrants facing temporary employment.
In May, the U.S. began withdrawing its last remaining troops from Afghanistan, 20-years after it mounted a campaign against the Taliban insurgents.
Disclaimer: Although faculty members at the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong have done everything possible to verify the accuracy of the story, we cannot guarantee there are no mistakes. If you notice an error or have any questions, please email us.
Originally published at https://annielab.org on August 18, 2021.
