Was a photo of cars submerged in flash floods taken in Texas, United States? That’s the claim in a Facebook post published in Nigeria in July 2019 and shared more than 5,300 times.
In the photo, a stretch of submerged cars can be seen. The caption reads: “This is a flood in Texas, U.S; if in Lagos or any part of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari is in big trouble.”
The implied meaning is that if such floods were to occur in Nigeria, the country would be overwhelmed due to a perceived lack of investment in infrastructure.
A reverse image search reveals the photo was originally posted on the website Malaysiakini in May 2016.
It is in an article about flash floods in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 12 May 2016. More than 100 vehicles were stranded.
The article includes two more up-close photos of submerged cars stranded in the flash floods. – Motunrayo Joel
In the photo, a stretch of submerged cars can be seen. The caption reads: “This is a flood in Texas, U.S; if in Lagos or any part of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari is in big trouble.”
The implied meaning is that if such floods were to occur in Nigeria, the country would be overwhelmed due to a perceived lack of investment in infrastructure.
Flash floods in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A reverse image search reveals the photo was originally posted on the website Malaysiakini in May 2016.
It is in an article about flash floods in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 12 May 2016. More than 100 vehicles were stranded.
The article includes two more up-close photos of submerged cars stranded in the flash floods. – Motunrayo Joel
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
Governments in Africa have doubled ‘false news’ laws, to little effect. Another way is possible
Since 2016, the 11 countries we studied nearly doubled their laws and regulations on misinformation. There is little to show for it.
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