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A video of Taliban lashing a woman was widely shared on Twitter with the hashtag #BanTaliban and the caption “Real Face of Taliban”.

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

Debunked Source

Fact Check

In order to investigate the claim, we extracted keyframes of the shared video and performed a reverse image search.

 Search revealed that the incident dates back to late 2020, when the woman in the video was accused of talking to men over phone and was punished with 40 lashes by the Taliban Tribunal. The video was first posted on 13th April 2021.

(Screenshot from The Observers website)

Source

https://observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210426-taliban-tribunal-gives-woman-40-lashes-for-talking-to-a-man-on-the-phone

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/harrowing-moment-woman-whipped-40-23997083

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9515693/Woman-pleads-mercy-lashed-40-times-Taliban.html

Rating

Disinformation/ False Context

Conclusion

Our fact-check confirmed that the viral video dates back to 13th April 2021 before the invasion of Taliban. The video was shared with the hashtag #BanTaliban in response to the trending hashtag #AfghanSupportsTaliban.

ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis

ActorIndependent social media users, trendsetters of #BanTaliban are involved in disseminating the misleading content on social media; mainly on twitter.
BehaviorVideo and pictures are posted with misleading captions/ context to misinform people on Afghanistan’s current scenario after Taliban take over.
ContentSocial Media posts.
DegreeThe target audience is the Afghan diaspora and the rest of the world and the intention behind the post is to give rise to negative sentiments against Taliban. The video is not edited but it is old.
EffectThe Taliban were highly criticized for this inhuman act. People demanded international powers to put a ban on the Taliban. #BanTaliban was a top trend in Afghanistan with tweets coming from Pakistan.