An altered photo of Burj Khalifa supposedly projecting the face and name of presidential aspirant and former Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been flagged as fake by a report of Agence France-Presse (AFP), an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France.
The report sought comments from a representative of the famous Dubai skyscraper as well as the group of Filipinos who originally took the photo.
The altered image bears the words: “BONGBONG MARCOS / MY PRESIDENT / 2022”.
Another Facebook page that uploaded the image captioned it: “Burj khalifa na mismo nag endorso. Baka troll na naman sabihin ng mga pinklawan.”
Fireworks could be seen too in the background. Although, it was not present in the original image.
AFP said that a combined reverse image search on Google found a nearly identical photo shared on Facebook on June 13, 2019. It was when the tallest building in the world showed the three stars and the sun to commemorate the Philippines’ Independence Day.
“A representative for Burj Khalifa confirmed to AFP on November 11 the photo of the skyscraper with Marcos Jr’s image is “not genuine”, the report said.
Meanwhile, a representative for the group of overseas Filipino workers that took the photo in 2019 was quoted by AFP to have said: “No image [of Marcos Jr]. This was during the Independence Day celebration.”
In another report by Vera Files, it said that one of the more viral post garnered at least 9,400 reactions and 5,300 shares, before it was taken down on Nov. 8.
What does UAE law say?
Atty Imran Khan told The Filipino Times that Article 198 of the Federal Penal Code stipulates that a person guilty of spreading rumours “can be sentenced to detention”, specifically if he/she “deliberately diffuses false or tendentious news, information or rumours, or spreads provocative propaganda.”
Khan said that Article 29 of the New Cyber Crime Law states: “Shall be punished by temporary imprisonment and a fine not in excess of Dh1 million, whoever publishes information, news, statements or rumours on a website or any computer network or information technology means with intent to make sarcasm or damage the reputation, prestige or stature of the State or any of its institutions or its president, vice-president, any of the rulers of the Emirates, their crown princes, or the deputy rulers of the Emirates, the State flag, the national peace, its logo, national anthem or any of its symbols.”
The UAE Public Prosecution has always been reminding residents not to share any unfounded information online.
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Click here to see the original AFP report
