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  • 2021-12-17 (xsd:date)
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  • Old video of fatal traffic accident in China shared in false posts about 'forced demolition' (en)
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  • A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, alongside a claim it shows a family that was killed in eastern China after the local government forcibly demolished their home. One post claims the victims paid with their lives to protect their property rights. In China, tenants enjoy very few rights under a patchwork of contradictory laws, and land can only be owned by the state or collective organisations. But the video has been shared in a false context: it shows the aftermath of a traffic accident in the central Chinese province of Henan. Warning: distressing footage The video was shared in this post on Twitter on December 11, 2021. It shows a line of motionless bodies lying crumpled on the ground. A woman can be heard crying as a few people gather to inspect the scene. The post's simplified Chinese-language caption translates as: They paid with their lives to protect their property rights. Texts superimposed on the footage also in simplified Chinese-language translate as: This is a fatal forced demolition incident which happened in Taihe county, Anhui province. Gangsters killed a family of seven, and the local government has blocked the news. [I] hope people with a conscience will share it. Taihe county is in eastern China's Anhui province. Warning Show Screenshot taken on December 15, 2021, of the misleading Twitter post Hide In China, millions of hectares of rural land were taken away from farmers in the past three decades and given to developers as the country raced to urbanise, often with little or no compensation in return. Rural migrants living in run-down inner-city areas have also been forcefully evicted in recent years as cities fight congestion. In June 2020, AFP reported that the Chinese government was finally trying to address the problem -- which has caused social unrest -- in a major shake-up of its property law. The same video has circulated alongside a similar claim since at least 2020, including here , here and here on Twitter; here on Facebook; and here on YouTube. However, the video has been shared in a false context. While many users appeared to believe the video shows a family killed in a forced demolition of their home, some people left comments suggesting the video may show a traffic accident. A further keyword search found this Weibo post published by a channel under Henan's local TV broadcaster Henan Broadcasting System on October 12, 2015. The posts feature images of a traffic accident in central China's Henan province. They show similar scenes to the video shared in the misleading posts. Below are two screenshot comparisons of the video shared in the misleading posts (L) and a picture published by Henan Broadcasting System (R): Warning Show Screenshot comparisons of the video shared in the misleading posts (L) and a picture published by Henan Broadcasting System (R) Hide The post's simplified-Chinese Weibo caption translates as: At about 3:25 pm yesterday, a tragedy occurred in Sanjiaodong village, Shangcheng county, Xinyang city. A three-wheeled motorcycle carrying 10 people overturned on the way down the mountain, causing seven deaths and three injuries. We have learned that the motorcycle belongs to the villagers. The passengers on the motorcycle are all villagers living nearby. They went up the mountain to burn incense for peace. Unexpectedly, a car accident happened after they went down the mountain. The pictures from the Weibo post were also published in this news video by Henan Broadcasting System. At the video's 59-second mark, a rescue worker says the accident happened after a three-wheeled motorcycle lost control on its way down a mountain. The same incident was also reported by Chinese state broadcaster Liaoning Radio and Television here . There have been reports of forced demolitions in Taihe county -- including by Chinese news agency Xinhua here in 2008 and Chinese state newspaper Chongqing Morning Post here in 2018. However, none of the reports stated there were fatalities following the demolitions. (en)
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