Fact Check-Video shows climate demonstration, not staged body bags in Ukraine war
Footage from a February 2022 climate policy demonstration held by the activist group “Fridays for Future” in Austria is being miscaptioned on social media by users who claim it shows “crisis actors” in Ukraine.
“Crisis actor” is a term used in conspiracy theories to say actors are pretending to be victims in breaking news catastrophes or events, thus implying they are staged or fake. Reuters debunked multiple such claims during the coronavirus pandemic (here) (here), (here), and now during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well (here).
An example of the miscaptioned video clip with the caption “Ukrainian crisis actor? Watch the body bag” can be seen (here).
Similar posts published on other social sites can be observed (here), (vm.tiktok.com/ZMLAbgwuh/), and (here).
The video is not new, however. It was posted by Austrian news channel OE24 to YouTube (here) on Feb. 4, 2022, with the caption: “Vienna: Demo against climate policy.”
The video has been previously debunked by Reuters (here). The Feb. 8 fact-check addressed false claims that the video depicted crisis actors and therefore is proof the pandemic is a conspiracy theory.
The video shows a Shock Protest covered by news outlet OE24 (here), according to the report the body bags were used to illustrate the message of Austrian activist group, Fridays For Future’s (see more) (fridaysforfuture.at/ueber-uns) that “Austria’s CO2 emissions one day will lead to 49 ”climate deaths” by the year 2100.” Additional press coverage of the Feb. 4 protest can be viewed on the group’s website (fridaysforfuture.at/presse).
The clip has no connection to crisis actors or the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is very much a real, documented event (here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. This video shows a demonstration in Austria against climate policy, not Ukrainian crisis actors.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
