Beware: Not all pictures being shared on political violence are from Zimbabwe

In short: there are pictures being circulated on social media showing people who have been victims of political violence in the 2023 elections, not all of them are true reports. The picture of a man reportedly attacked in Chitungwiza’s Ward 19 is not from Zimbabwe.

A picture has been shared by users on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The post with the caption ‘#Alert, we’re getting reports from Chitungwiza ward 19 that a group of Zanu-PF supports (sic) attacked, injured and almost killed the campaign team of Independent candidates (Zambezi S. Ignatius & Wendy Chiriri), while distributing fliers. They were beaten with logs, stones and cables”

The accompanying picture shows a man in a blue shirt with a bloody head.

The picture was also shared by lawyer and Saviour Kasuwere, who was aspiring to be a presidential candidate before being disqualified, in a now deleted post.

She had tweeted, ‘‘We condemn the unwarranted barbaric attacks on our members. This election has been discredited on so many levels before it has even happened.’

A reverse image shows that this picture is from Zambia’s 2018 election and was previously used in a post by the Zambian Observer on 30 September 2018. 

Tips to spot re-contextualised images

Be wary of images that arouse strong emotions like anger, anxiety or fear. 

Look out for any identifying clues on the picture that could help locate it such as number plates, buildings,, posters etc

Do a reverse image search.

Check with other trusted media sources to see if they have published the report.

If you are not sure, do not share.