Viral image
stated on July 19, 2021 in a Facebook post:

Photo shows people protesting against “vaccine tyranny” in France.

Coronavirus Facebook Fact-checks

This claim rates False.

This is a photo of a World Cup celebration in France, not an anti-vaccine protest

If your time is short

Tens of thousands of French people recently protested the country’s plans to limit access to restaurants and public events for unvaccinated people, but this photo shows a World Cup celebration in 2018.

See the sources for this fact-check

More than 100,000 people in France recently protested the country’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy, and some people are cheering them on online.

“France,” reads one Facebook post showing a photo of Champs-Elysee crowded with people as someone stands on the Arc de Triomphe above holding a French flag. “People are w@king up and uniting ag@inst ¥@xxin€ tyranny and n€w w0rld 0rd€r!”

Figure 1: False french COVID-19 protest pic claim

(Screengrab from Facebook)

France has a long history of powerful protests, but this photo doesn’t show anti-vaccine demonstrators in the streets this year.

This post 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.)

A reverse image search of the photo shows it was taken in July 2018, after France won soccer’s World Cup. People were celebrating France’s win over Croatia in the final match that year — not protesting French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement that unvaccinated residents would have limited access to restaurants, public events, and more.

There are other photos that show French people protesting in the streets. But this isn’t one of them.

We rate this post False.

Our Sources

Facebook post, July 19, 2021

Getty Images photo of World Cup celebration, July 15, 2018

France 24, Aux barricades! France’s long history of revolt, July 12, 2018

The New York Times, In France, angry protests, rising infections and record vaccinations, July 19, 2021

Politico, France forced to soften rules after coronavirus green pass backlash, July 20, 2021