Fact check: Image shows fabricated Global News headline about 'fascist graffiti'

Ana Faguy, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Image shows Global News headline about the rise of 'fascist graffiti'

Some social media users are sharing an image of a purported Global News headline about a connection between fascist graffiti and the far-right.

"Rise in fascist graffiti has experts concerned about the steel resolve of the far-right," the headline reads.

The article accompanying the supposed story features an image of a building with the word "freedom" spray-painted across it.

A Dec. 5 Facebook post of the image (direct link, archived link) received more than 50 shares in three days, with many users taking the supposed headline seriously.

"They just throw around terms to ignite a reaction that they clearly don't know the meaning of," one user commented.

But the Global News reporter credited in the supposed article's byline told USA TODAY the article and the headline in the image are fabricated.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.

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Global News headline is not real

The image in the social media post does not depict a real headline, Rachel Gilmore, the Global News reporter credited with writing the supposed article, told USA TODAY in an email.

Such a story was not published on Global News' website and does not appear on Global News' Twitter account.

Gilmore, who covers far-right extremism for the outlet, said individuals she has profiled have altered screenshots of her articles in the past and spread them online.

The image featured below the purported Global News headline matches an image featured in a February article on the Toronto news website blogTO. The article is about a Toronto public school that was vandalized in protest of a vaccine mandate.

Fact check: No, Elon Musk did not tweet that he will buy Snapchat

Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED an image purporting to show a Global News headline about the rise of "fascist graffiti." The reporter credited with the story said she wrote no such piece, and the image is taken from a story by another outlet.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Image shows fabricated story on fascist graffiti

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