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  • 2019-11-18 (xsd:date)
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  • The child was crying after being exposed to tear gas in Hong Kong -- not deliberately pepper sprayed by police (en)
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  • Three photos of a crying child have been shared thousands of times in Facebook and Twitter posts which claim the boy in the images was pepper sprayed by Hong Kong Police after being separated from his family and seeking help from officers. The photos are being used in a misleading context; the images were taken by an European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) photographer on October 27, 2019, in the district of Mong Kok and showed the aftermath of tear gas; the EPA photographer told AFP the child had not been pepper sprayed. A screenshot of a post containing the three photos was posted on Facebook here on October 29, 2019, where they have been shared more than 5,000 times. The three photos, all taken from a similar angle, show a young boy dressed in an orange T-shirt with his eyes squeezed shut. The child is surrounded by people who in some of the images can be seen wiping the child’s eyes with liquid. The caption of the Facebook post in the screenshot translates from traditional Chinese to English as: A child who was separated from his family approached police for help in finding his mother, but was pepper sprayed as a result! The October 29, 2019, Facebook post that shared the screenshot of the misleading post is similarly captioned. Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post: Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post The same composite image was also published here , here , here and here on Facebook, and here and here on Twitter alongside a similar claim. The claim is false; European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) photographer Lynn Bo Bo , who took the images, said the child had been teargassed rather than pepper sprayed. The photographs can be seen on the EPA website . Below is a screenshot of the search result: Screenshot of the search result The three photos share the same caption: A child reacts after being affected by tear gas, which was dispensed by police, during a rally against police brutality in Hong Kong, China, 27 October 2019. Hong Kong has witnessed months of mass protests, which were originally triggered by a now withdrawn extradition bill, and have since turned into a wider pro-democracy movement. Below is a screenshot of one of the photos from the EPA website: Screenshot of the photo from European Pressphoto Agency website Photographer Lynn Bo Bo told AFP via Facebook Messenger on November 6 and 8, 2019, that the boy in the photos was teargassed. It was in the small street where Mong Kok MTR station exit B1-B2 lie, near Argyle Centre. It happened around 8:00 pm while police on Nathan Road suddenly fired tear gas and raided towards protesters who were at a narrow street linked to Nathan Road. The child was crying and a man (think his father) standing beside him. Two EMS were helping the kid. I didn’t see pepper spraying at that time. Hong Kong has seen months of protests and increasingly violent clashes between police and demonstrators. Here is an AFP report on the situation. Videos of police pepper spraying people at close quarters have circulated widely online, for example here is AFP footage of such incidents. (en)
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