Edited video falsely portrays NCP rally as deserted
A video has been circulating on Facebook claiming that an NCP protest rally was deserted. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that the video had been edited. Footage of the audience was removed from the original rally video and replaced with footage of empty chairs filmed while preparations were underway before the rally began, creating the misleading impression that the NCP rally had no attendees.
On October 30, a Facebook page named “Prothom Dhaka” posted a 29-second video with the caption, “The NCP protest rally was deserted despite the presence of central leaders.” In the first part of the video, NCP central leaders can be seen singing the national anthem on stage. The next part shows rows of empty chairs in the audience area. By the time this report was published, the video had been viewed nearly 5.8 million times and shared more than 21,000 times.
The video was also circulated by several other Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3).
A reverse image search using keyframes from the video led to a video published on the Facebook page of online news outlet Barta Bazar. In the video, published on October 30 under the headline “NCP mass protest rally begins with the national anthem,” NCP leaders can be seen singing the national anthem during the first 53 seconds. The following footage shows people present in the audience area.
Another video was found on the same day on the Facebook page of “Talash BD,” published under the headline “NCP takes to the streets with five demands, including the resignation of two ministers.” The narration says that the NCP mass protest would be held in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh over several issues, including rising commodity prices, increased fuel prices and public insecurity. Footage from before the rally began shows empty green and brown chairs. This scene matches the footage of empty chairs in the edited video.
In other words, footage showing people attending the NCP protest rally has been removed and replaced with footage of preparations and empty chairs from before the rally began, creating the misleading impression that the rally was deserted.
