A post on Facebook shared almost 1,000 times shows people lining the streets of Paris. The caption of the post claims this photograph was taken on 17 July 2021, when there were protests in the French capital over Covid-19 rules. However, this photograph actually shows celebrations in the city after France won the World Cup in 2018.
On 12 July, French president Emmanuel Macron announced new measures against Covid-19, including the introduction of Covid-19 ‘passports’ and that vaccination will become mandatory for all health workers.
The planned new measures have led to large protests in the country. Reuters reported that there were 137 protests across France on 17 July, gathering nearly 114,000 people. Of these protestors, 18,000 were in Paris, according to the French government.
However, this photograph, which appears to show far more than 18,000 people, was not taken during these protests. A reverse image search shows this photograph was used by multiple news outlets reporting on France’s victory in the 2018 World Cup.
Posts suggesting the image was taken during the protests on 17 July have also been widely shared on Twitter, including by lockdown sceptic Ivor Cummins.