A South African Twitter user has posted a photo of what looks half-fish, half-human creature. “See what fishermen caught with their net,” he tweeted. “They said it’s the demon responsible for the death of many people in that river.”
The photo was also posted on Facebook and tagged as potentially false.
Does the photo show a real creature?
A reverse image search reveals that the photo has been shared widely across different social media platforms. But it seems it was first shared online in May 2018 on the Facebook page for the PI-R2 Art Thesis Exhibition.
The page shows all the works by the senior-year students in the fine arts department at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok, Thailand.
Among these artworks is the fish-human hybrid sculpture by artist Parada Pattarakunpreeda. Photos of the sculpture can also be seen on his Instagram account. – Africa Check
The photo was also posted on Facebook and tagged as potentially false.
Does the photo show a real creature?
Hyper-realistic work of art
A reverse image search reveals that the photo has been shared widely across different social media platforms. But it seems it was first shared online in May 2018 on the Facebook page for the PI-R2 Art Thesis Exhibition.
The page shows all the works by the senior-year students in the fine arts department at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok, Thailand.
Among these artworks is the fish-human hybrid sculpture by artist Parada Pattarakunpreeda. Photos of the sculpture can also be seen on his Instagram account. – Africa Check
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
People crossing river at South Africa-Zimbabwe border? No, photo taken in Lesotho
A photo shared on Facebook in January 2021 shows people crossing a muddy river while others watch from either side.
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