A viral image of a CNN chyron about Afghanistan is doctored

Kabul, Afghanistan, fell to Taliban power on Aug. 15, and CNN has been updating its website with developing news and grim headlines. Among them: 

• "Afghan ambassador says UN must call for an immediate end to violence"

• "UN official says he is concerned by ‘mounting’ human rights violations against Afghan women and girls" 

• "US government working overtime to clear special immigrant visas as crisis intensifies in Afghanistan"

• "People are clinging to US planes taking off from Kabul airport" 

• "Desperation at Kabul airport as people try to flee"

Not among the headlines? "Violent but mostly peaceful transfer of power." 

That’s the language in a chyron in an image circulating on social media of what looks like a CNN broadcast from Kabul. Similar language also appears as the title of an unrelated YouTube video: "CNN: Violent but mostly peaceful Taliban transfer of Power!" 

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stated on March 21, 2024 in an Instagram post

Video shows legislators “dancing in Congress” while the border is “overrun.”

But it’s not authentic. 

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A spokesperson for CNN told us that the image is fake. 

It’s a reference to a CNN chyron from August 2020 when the network covered protests in Kenosha, Wis., over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. 

"Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting," the chyron said. Oscar Jimenez, a national correspondent for CNN then reporting from Kenosha, was standing in front of the orange glow of flames at night as the chyron appeared on the screen. 

"What you’re seeing now, these images, came and come in stark contrast to what we saw over the course of the daytime hours in Kenosha and into the early evening, which were largely peaceful demonstrations in the face of law enforcement," Jimenez said on the broadcast. 

The screenshot from that broadcast is what’s being shared now on social media — only the background showing Kenosha has been replaced with what looks like a scene from Kabul. 

We rate this post False.