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Violence in Ecuador: Fake news fuels panic
A hostage-taking on a television set, gunfire and explosions in the street: Ecuador has been plunged into a violent armed conflict with gangs linked to drug trafficking for several days. The scenes of chaos are widely documented on social media. In this context, a lot of fake news is circulating, sowing even more confusion and panic.
Many images taken out of context circulate among the real scenes of violence. © Screenshots/ RFI Editing
By: Grégory Genevrier Follow
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Faced with the increase in violence in several of the country's major cities, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared his country in a state of "internal armed conflict" and ordered, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the "neutralization" of criminal groups involved in drug trafficking. The security crisis came after the leader of the Choneros, one of the country's largest gangs, disappeared from Guayaquil prison on Sunday, January 7.
On social media, scenes of violence provoke a lot of reactions, but also a lot of false information. One of the latest claims that several tanks were deployed at night, in the heart of downtown Guayaquil, in the center-west of the country, to fight the gangs that sow terror. The video shared as evidence lasts about thirty seconds. It shows three tanks advancing through the urban environment, under the gaze of several civilians. These images have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on X, formerly Twitter, alone.
Warning, this tweet is a fake news, the video is taken out of context.
🚨| URGENT: Tanques de guerra de las Fuerzas Armadas de Ecuador, entran a Guayaquil para brindar seguridad a la población y combatir a los grupos terroristas. 🇪🇨 ¿Respaldas estas medidas? pic.twitter.com/ZdDUBMV8qu
— Eduardo Menoni (@eduardomenoni) January 10, 2024
In reality, this video has nothing to do with the situation in Ecuador. An expert's analysis of the tanks visible in the images indicates that they are Leopards 2. A German tank model that is not in the Ecuadorian army's military arsenal.
The tanks visible in the video are Leopard 2 tanks, a model not available to the Ecuadorian army. © Screenshots/ RFI Editing
Moreover, thanks to a reverse image search, it is known that this video was filmed in Turkey, in the streets of Ankara during the coup attempt in 2016.
Tweet dated July 16, 2016.
Footage shows Turkish military tanks in #Ankara streets#TurkeyCoup pic.twitter.com/oj7nvQaSFO
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 15, 2016
A massive flight of Ecuadorians to Peru?
Another image taken out of context has been circulating massively in recent hours. This image shows hundreds of people huddled together in a queue at a border crossing between Ecuador and Peru. Internet users who share it claim that "the Peru-Ecuador border, (...) is starting to fill up with queues of people asking for entry and/or refuge in the Peruvian state."
Warning, this tweet is a fake news.
#URGENTE • 🇪🇨🇵🇪 La frontera de Peru - Ecuador, para ingresar hacia Peru, se empieza a llenar de colas de gente para solicitar entrada y/o refugio al estado peruano. La frontera #Ecuador - Colombia también.
Guayaquⁱl • #Quⁱto • Rafael Correa • Terrorismo pic.twitter.com/ErZK01QnMr
— Omar 👁️ 🗨️ (@iamOmarPE) January 9, 2024
Checked, the image was taken out of context. It was published in several press articles in 2018.
This same photo illustrates press articles published in 2018. © Screenshot/ BBC/ RFI Editing
Faced with the circulation of this fake news, the Peruvian immigration services published images of the border post concerned, which was almost empty.
A esta hora de la tarde se registra una baja afluencia de personas en el Centro Binacional de Atención Fronteriza CEBAF Tumbes. Personal de #MigracionesPerú y de la @PoliciaPeru coordinan acciones en el lugar. pic.twitter.com/rHNlKN1MHk
— Migraciones Perú (@MigracionesPe) January 9, 2024
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