Amid the ongoing farmers ‘demonstration in India, a set of three pictures showing several tractors parked in long queues on the roads showed up on social media, claiming it was footage of a recent farmers’ demonstration in Berlin. The claim is that riotous farmers drove their tractors to the Brandenburg Gate on February 14, an iconic landmark in the German capital.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the viral post misleading. The photos are of an agricultural protest in Berlin that took place in November 2019. However, there have also been recent protests by farmers against the government.
Many Facebook users claim that the photos were taken recently when farmers marched with their tractors in Berlin. The claim is viral on Twitter also. The archived version can be seen here (https://archive.vn/FsTWd).
AFWA investigation
Using reverse search we found all three photos in articles related to the farmers’ protest in Berlin on 26 November 2019. The first photo was found in an Independent.ie article, while the second and third were found in German news reports website The local and UK portal Farmers Weekly. All these reports were published around 26 November 2019.
According to news reports, thousands of farmers went to Berlin on November 26, 2019 with their tractors to protest against the German government’s agricultural plans, which they say threaten their livelihoods. About 10,000 farmers and 5,000 tractors from different parts of Germany made their way to the Berlin Brandenburg Gate.
“The government’s policy package includes plans to curb the use of fertilizers to tackle nitrate pollution in groundwater, and to phase out the controversial herbicide glyphosate by 2023 to protect insect populations,” says ‘The Local’. Farmers said the proposed environmental limits are too restrictive and could affect their farms.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the photographs are more than a year old and are transmitted as footage of recent protests against the German government. However, hundreds of farmers also protested last week against Angela Merkel’s ‘insect protection’ bill.
Tractor convoys near the Brandenburg Gate were also seen during this demonstration. One such video can be seen here.