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  • 2021-12-08 (xsd:date)
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  • Doctored photo of Sri Lankan opposition MP misleads on social media (en)
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  • An image is circulating in Facebook and Twitter posts that claim it shows Sri Lankan opposition politician Champika Ranawaka wearing a sticker supporting a campaign against gender-based violence. The image is doctored; the original photo shows a different MP, Buddhika Pathirana. The image, which was shared on Facebook on November 26, appears to show Sri Lankan opposition MP Champika Ranawaka wearing a sticker reading Stop the violence against women! in Sinhala. He also appears to sport an orange armband, a symbol of a United Nations' campaign against gender-based violence. Opposition politicians staged a protest in Sri Lanka's parliament on November 25 after an MP from the leading party in the country's ruling coalition, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna was accused of verbally harassing a female parliamentarian. Screenshot of the Facebook post published on November 26, 2021 The post's Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: Absurd! Isn't this a man who stole other people's women? Ranawaka denied accusations in 2016 that he harassed the partner of one of his former staffers. A police spokesperson told AFP on December 7, 2021 that no further action was taken following the allegation. The same image was shared in similar posts here and here on Facebook and here on Twitter. Some social media users appeared to believe the image genuinely showed Ranawaka. What a bunch of shameless hypocrites! Is stealing not violence? one person commented. He must have hit his head really hard somewhere and forgot what he did, another wrote. However, the image is doctored. A reverse image search found the original photo showing opposition MP Buddhika Pathirana -- not Champika Ranawaka -- posted on Facebook by Sri Lankan outlet Newsfirst on November 25, 2021. Screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading posts (L) and the original image of MP Pathirana (R) ( Lakna PARANAMANNA) A spokesperson for Ranawaka told AFP the image had been altered. (en)
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