Myanmar Woman Confronting an Armored Vehicle Altered

Meanwhile, protests and criticism of Myanmar's military government led by General Ming Aung Lan after the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi are still being hotly debated and shared on social media, a Facebook user posted a photo depicting a woman holding a sword confronting an armored vehicle. This photo was attached with a caption claiming she was a Myanmar woman brave enough to hold a sword facing a military vehicle. It has been reacted to with mixed comments and shared by many Facebook users who speak Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo above is edited.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On February 15, 2021, a photo showing a woman holding a sword standing in front of a military vehicle was posted on social media claiming to be a Myanmar woman. The image also shows a group of women standing with alcohol. The photo attached to this claim has been shared several times by social media users, along with comment and mixed reactions.

Below is a screenshot image captured from the Facebook user's post that read in Khmer and translated into English as “Brave Burmese woman, pull the sword out in front of the tank”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started to check the above photo through Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find the truth.

Last year, a Twitter post showed three photos of the same format with the photo posted above. Image courtesy of the above website, described in English as “Armored personnel carriers and other military vehicles have been seen in various locations around Yangon”. This clearly shows that the photo posted by the Facebook user above is seen to be digitally altered, while the original image does not feature any woman confronting an armoured vehicle at all.

Twitter | Archived Link

A photo of the same form and shape was also found and published on a news website called The BBC, translated from Myanmar into English by Google Translate, meaning “military weapons from Ukraine, continued entering Myanmar”. The photo does not show a woman standing in front of an armoured vehicle at all.

BBC News Report | Archived Link

The AFP news agency verified and checked the above case on February 17, 2021. This website stated in its article that a photo that shows the image of a woman standing in front of an armoured vehicle has been digitally altered. The original one does not depict the woman confronting at all.

AFP Link | Archived Link

The following compares the altered image and the original image found on social media in Cambodia.

Follow Us and Stay Up to Date with Our Latest Fact Checks.

Facebook Twitter Telegram Google News TikTok

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

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photo posted above is digitally altered. This photo actually shows an armored vehicle moving in Yangon, Myanmar. It does not feature a woman holding a sword confronting at all.