A photo circulating the internet today that allegedly depicts the aftermath of yesterday’s climate strike in Hyde Park has turned out to be nothing but trash. Fake news.
The image, which shows a trash-laden Hyde Park has been shared countless times on social media, mostly by accounts like “Australians against radical Islam” and other anti-climate strikers. However, it doesn’t even depict our own Hyde Park, it’s actually the London park of the same name.
Not only is it not Sydney, it’s also not from a climate strike at all. The photo, which was originally posted in April 2019 is from a 420 cannabis rally that was actually cleaned up by popular environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion.
However, despite a two-minute Twitter search proving that this photo is from at least April, the Australian Youth Coal Coalition still felt the need to share the image and claim it was the streets of Sydney.
“Look at the mess today’s climate protesters left behind in beautiful Hyde Park. So much plastic. So much landfill,” the post said before it was deleted.
The post had received nearly 10,000 comments and been shared over 34,000 times before it was deleted, spreading a vast amount of misinformation about the event and its participants.
Approximately 200,000 protesters flocked to city centres around Australia on Friday to strike for the climate, and thankfully didn’t cause the trash pit that was left in London in April.
The strikes, which took place in various cities across the globe, were held to demand three primary targets, according to the SS4C website:
-
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine.
-
100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030.
-
Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities.
Sharing such misinformation, especially within a community that already questions the very existence of climate change is problematic to say the least. Friday’s rallies saw people of all ages, genders, races and from all walks of life stand together to fight for the planet. This is no longer an issue that only young, “green” hippies care about. This is everyone’s planet, and we all need to protect it.
