Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021
Does a viral photo with a large mass of people show an anti-COVID-19 vaccination protest in Austria?
The image making the rounds on social media actually shows Russians gathered in 1991 to protest the leadership of the country at the time.
The post featured a cropped and differently-toned version of the original image, with text superimposed alluding to anti-COVID-19 vaccination protests in Austria in November 2021. Those protests were in response to a national lockdown in the country, which was to last longer for unvaccinated Austrians. Austrians also protested a mandate requiring all eligible residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which was to go into effect on Feb. 1, 2022.
The image used in the viral post was taken by The Associated Press on March 10, 1991, in Moscow. The crowd of about 500,000 people was gathered to demand that then-President Mikhail Gorbachev — the last leader of the Soviet Union before it broke apart — step down from power.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- AP Images Russia Unrest 1991
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