Beware the spread of misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Be on the lookout especially for thinly sourced claims such as the one shared this week by an ABC News affiliate in New York and the Daily Mail, both of which published a photo claiming to show a crowded subway car in New York City on April 2 during what would normally be rush-hour traffic.
The problem here is that the picture, which ABC7NY and the Daily Mail sourced to an anonymous Twitter user called “Progressive Action,” appears to have been taken at another time and date. Also, “Progressive Action” stole the picture from another anonymous account.
There are a lot of moving parts to this story, so let’s take them one at a time.
The ABC News affiliate shared the photo Thursday in a since-deleted Instagram post that read:
The photo included in the Instagram post bore a caption that read: “NO. 2 TRAIN, APRIL 2, 6 P.M.”
Here is a claim by ABC7NY. A crowded NYT subway train. Apparently this is the No. 2 Train from April 2, 6pm.
Except … it’s not. pic.twitter.com/c1dcLUX0uN
— Pwn All The Things (@pwnallthethings) April 3, 2020
Prior to its deletion, ABC7NY’s Instagram note was clipped and shared all over Twitter, including by freelance journalist Yashar Ali, who brought the post to the attention of his more 569,000 followers.
The Daily Mail published a report on April 3 titled “Shocking picture shows New York train packed with mask-wearing passengers despite strict social distancing instructions – as essential workers continue to commute amid rising coronavirus death toll in NYC.”
The Daily Mail report’s opening lines read:
The No. 2 train, which is said to have been photographed around evening rush-hour at 6 p.m. by a member of Progressive Action, a group of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) workers, is shown full of mask-wearing passengers crammed together unable to avoid close contact with others.
Here is where we get to the obvious problems with the photo.
First, as one savvy social media user noted, the picture shows passengers wearing hats and winter coats. It was roughly 50 degrees in New York City when the picture was supposedly taken.
Speaking of which, a reverse Google Images search shows that the photo was posted online before April 2. An anonymous Twitter user, @showmetheequity, tweeted the picture on March 30, claiming it was taken that day at about 4:30 pm.
So, “Progressive Action” not only took credit for a picture stolen from another social media user, but also stated explicitly in replies to news outlets, including ABC7NY and the Daily Mail, that the photo was taken on April 2 at about 6 p.m., none of which appears to be true. Also, “Progressive Action” has taken to mocking and/or ignoring other Twitter users who have asked for an explanation of how the photo appeared in tweets dated March 30.
Look, as far as the coronavirus pandemic is concerned, there is probably not a lot of difference between March 30 and April 2 in terms of people crowding into subway cars in New York City. But that is not the point. The point is that two newsrooms, relying exclusively on an anonymous Twitter user, “reported” a claim that is factually false on at least two counts (date and time). ABC7NY and the Daily Mail reported the story the way they did because they accepted the say-so of an anonymous Twitter account that claims to be run by Metropolitan Transportation Authority “workers [who are] here to tell the truth on how the #MTA really operates.”
That is a problem, especially as we brace for the worst from COVID-19. This is not to bag on anyone or accuse them of spreading “fake news.” But this is to ask that we all do better to make sure we share only verified information. It matters now more than ever.
