A Picture of Myanmar’s Junta Leader Wearing Many Medals Altered

​Protests and criticisms of the Myanmar military government led by General Min Aung Hlaing after the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi are still being discussed and shared on social media by Khmer-speaking social media users. Meanwhile, a photo depicting Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing wearing many medals was recently posted on Facebook. This photo has been shared and reacted to with mixed comments by Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo posted above is digitally altered.

Social Media Claim

On July 19, 2022, one of the Facebook users recently posted a photo of Myanmar military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, in a military uniform with a number of medals. This photo is attached with the caption “want to wear a hundred stars”. The attached photo has been received mixed reactions from users and has been shared several times by the Khmer-language Facebook users.

The following screenshot was captured from the Facebook user’s post above, writing in Khmer and translating in English as “want to wear a hundred stars”. 

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started checking the above photos through Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find the following facts.

An exact photo of Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was found on the Myanmar Times more than three years ago. This photo shows the coup leader wearing a military uniform without a lot of medals. According to the above news media, this photo shows Min Aung Hlaing inspecting the damaged road along the Yangon-Mandalay road in April 2019.

Myanmar Times News Report | Archived Link

The following is the comparison image between the original photo and the altered photo used and published on Facebook recently.

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You may find the details of this fact-checks in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out that the photo posted by the above Facebook user is digitally altered. This photo has been edited before being posted on social media. The original photo shows Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in a military uniform without many medals.