A ‘Guardian’ headline about the Insulate Britain protests is fake

By | October 14, 2021

A fake screenshot about the Insulate Britain protests has been widely shared on Facebook, and on Twitter.

The image seems to show a Guardian article with the headline: “Ambulance carrying Insulate Britain protestor – who was beaten up by angry motorists – is caught in traffic jam caused by another Insulate Britain protest”.

In fact, the Guardian has confirmed to Reuters that it never published an article with this headline.

The screenshot appears to be a digitally altered version of a real Guardian article with the headline: “Drivers clash with Insulate Britain activists blocking three London roads”.

This article reports several disputes around the Insulate Britain protests, and includes quotes from members of the public about delays to ambulances. However it does not report that an ambulance carrying a protester was delayed by traffic.

The altered headline’s use of the word “protestor” is a clue that it is not genuine. It is Guardian policy to spell the word “protester” with an e, and it can be seen with that spelling in the subheading and the photo caption in the same screenshot (which were from the real article).

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