Did Protesters Spare "Muslim Shops"? Inside a Viral 12-Million-View Video [Fact Check]

[Anchor]

Amid intensifying protests in France, fake news and manipulated information fueling anti-immigrant sentiment are running rampant. The Fact Check "Fact Is" team investigated the truth behind these claims alongside French media.

Reporter Lee Gyeong-won has the details.

[Reporter]

A woman presumed to be a shop owner holds a stick to block protesters, while nearby men say something to stop her.

The video, uploaded to social media two weeks ago, spread rapidly with claims that the protesters held back their attack because the shop owner was a fellow Muslim, and that not a single Muslim-owned shop was targeted. The claim even spread to South Korea.

It surpassed 12 million views.

The SBS "Fact Is" team asked the Seoul bureau of Le Figaro, a leading French daily, to verify what was actually being said. The man's words were translated as follows:

[She is a woman. She is a woman and she is alone. Everyone go back. Please, go back.]

They found that the men were merely telling others to stop the attack because the woman was alone, and no references to Islam were confirmed.

The woman appearing to be the shop owner looked like she was wearing a hijab, but upon closer inspection, she had long black hair.

[mon frère! mon frère!]

Claims were also shared that this expression meant Muslim in French, but it was actually a term of address among men, similar to "bro" in English.

A video showing a Palestinian flag at the top of the Eiffel Tower turned out to be AI-manipulated, and a video reported as an immigrant protest was confirmed to show football fans celebrating Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Champions League victory last May.

The French daily Le Monde wrote that such fake videos push the protesters' demands to the background and cause the situation to be interpreted through identity issues such as race and religion.

(Video Editing: Choi Hye-young, Design: Cho Su-in, VJ: Kim Jun-ho, Writer: Kim Hyo-jin, Intern: Kim Jung-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.