With the rise of social media and generative AI, how much of what we see online is true? In this new series, SCMP Fact-Check, the Post investigates claims circulating online and debunks viral misinformation impacting the daily lives of Hongkongers.
“A firefighter holding a cat he saved from the Hong Kong fire,” reads the superimposed text of an Instagram post from November 29.
The image in the post appears to show a Hong Kong firefighter clutching a cat wrapped in a towel.
It circulated online in the wake of the city’s deadliest fire in decades at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, which has claimed at least 160 lives and left thousands homeless.
But the photo predates the blaze in Tai Po.
Investigation
A reverse image search on Baidu found a similar photo taken from a different angle in a report by activist group Hong Kong Animal Post, published on May 24, 2024.
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