A photo of a homeless camp on old railroad tracks is present-day Los Angeles.
Viral image of homeless camp is old photo of Paris – not present day Los Angeles
A photo of what looks to be a homeless camp lined up on an old railroad claims to be taken in the United States this year.
Text along the bottom of the photo says “Los Angeles California 2019.”
The post, which was shared nearly 900 times in one day, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The photo was not taken in 2019. It’s also not showing Los Angeles.
It’s from 2015 and depicts a shantytown in Paris, located along a disused railway line.
A reverse-image search of the photo led to a December 2015 Daily Mail story that discusses the large Roma community in Paris, often referred to as Roma gypsies, who have built hundreds of shacks using wooden boards and scrap material along an old railway line.
The Petite Ceinture is a 19-mile belt that has been derelict for several decades, the Guardian reported in 2016, and its redevelopment has long sparked debates in the country.
Shortly after the migrant crisis hit Europe in 2015, the camp took root.
Around the time the photo was taken, the camp, which has no electricity or running water, spanned about 500 meters and was home to approximately 350 people.
This post is False.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, Feb. 17, 2019
Reverse image search, Feb. 18, 2019
Daily Mail, The Third World shanty town... in the heart of Paris: Roma gypsies create their own village built from rubbish and scrap in one of Europe's great cities, Dec. 18, 2015
The Funambulist Magazine, PRECARIOUS ROMA VILLAGE OF NORTHERN PARIS: A FEW CAUTIOUS CONSIDERATIONS, Dec. 20, 2015
The Guardian, Life in the new shanty town taking root on Paris's abandoned railway, Jan. 5, 2016
