An image of a group of people standing on a beach holding placards that read "#STOPADANI" is going viral on social media with a claim that the protest happened recently in Australia against Gautam Adani.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Why is this being shared now?: The photo is going viral after a report published by American short-seller Hindenburg Research on 24 January, stirred up allegations of money laundering and stock market manipulation against the Adani Group.
What is the truth about the image?: This image dates back to 2017 and was taken during a protest against Adani in Australia.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search and came across the same image uploaded on Flickr, a video and and an image hosting website.
This image was uploaded by an account called 'Stop Adani,' which is a campaign led by a network of 70 local groups in Australia to stop Adani Enterprise's coal mine.
The description of the image stated that nearly 250 Eurobodalla people assembled at Congo Beach on 7 October 2017 to demand the federal government to put a pause on Adani Enterprise’s proposed coal mine in North Queensland.
This picture was taken in 2017.
(Source: Flickr/Screenshot)
We also found a similar picture posted by 'Stop Adani' on their official Facebook page on, published on 27 July 2018.
On comparing the two images, we noticed several similarities.
The image were clicked at the same time and same location.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
What did the organiser say?: We reached out to the Stop Adani movement through their social media and they told us that this photo was taken in 2017 at Congo beach in New South Wales, Australia.
Reports about the protest: Several media outlets like The Guardian, Mint, and Scroll reported on the protests staged across Australia against Adani Enterprises in October 2017.
A report by Indian Cultural Forum published on 14 October 2017 carried a similar photo.
It also mentioned that these protesters said that Adani Enterprise's coal mine project would result in the destruction of the environment and cause global warming.
The same image was
(Source: ICF/Screenshot)
Conclusion: An old image of protests in Australia was shared as a recent picture.
(Update: The story has been updated to add a quote from the organisers of the protest in Australia.)
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