On January 28, Facebook user Giorgi Dolodze published a video with a text: “Anti-vaccine protests take place in Netherland, media is silent!!!”. Lilia Nadareishvil shared the identical video from Spanish Facebook user Mario Gomez to Facebook groups “კორონა მაფია” (Corona Mafia) and ”კორონამაფია და საქართველო როგორც საექსპერიმენტო ქვეყანა?” (Corona mafia and Georgia as an experiment country?). The video shows the street in the city being closed and protests taking place. Inscription “HOLANDIA” on the video of Spanish user indicates that the video depicts a current event in the Netherlands (old informal name Holland)
The video is manipulatively disseminated, it actually depicts a protest rally against the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny in Saint Petersburg on January 23. A protest rally did take place in the Netherlands on January 24 but it was against the curfew and not the vaccination In Georgia, fake account Giorgi Dolodze disseminates the video with a false description.
- The video was filmed in Petersburg on January 23
On January 23, thousands of people gathered on Neva Avenue to protest the imprisonment of Russian opposition-member Alexei Navalny. On the same day, January 23, “Radio Liberty” journalist Matthew Luxmoore working in Russia published the video recording of the protest rally on his Twitter account citing Telegram channel.
To confirm that the video was indeed filmed in Petersburg, Spanish fact-checking portal AFP Factual used the geolocation to verify the video and revealed that buildings in the video footage are actually located on Neva Avenue, Petersburg, and not the Netherlands.
photo: AFP Factual
Video filmed at the protest rally in Petersburg went viral and received numerous responses. Navalny supporters came out on the street after Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in jail following his return to Russia from Germany. Besides Petersburg, protests rallies calling for Navalny’s release took place almost all over Russia.
As for the Netherlands, similar to Georgia, a video taken in St. Petersburg circulated among European anti-vaxxers as if it depicted ongoing anti-vaccination rallies in the Netherlands. In reality, On January 22, Netherlands introduced a curfew until February 10. The decision was followed by protest rallies in Amsterdam and other cities. The participators protested the curfew, torched a viral testing center, as well as several vehicles. The exact number of protesters is difficult to determine since the locations and time differ, however, police arrested more than 180 people for violence and violations of imposed restrictions.
- Saba Kalatizishvili or Giorgi Dolodze?
Giorgi Dolodze disseminates video filmed in Saint Petersburg with the false description, presumably, it is a false account because his name and URL address (Saba Kalatizishvili) doesn’t match.
Giorgi Dolidze also doesn’t have any identifying photos on his account and disseminates other coronavirus-related disinformation.
Prepared by Mariam Dangadze
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