Images and links circulating on social media appear to show a Toronto Star headline about a financial scandal involving Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP). But the newspaper public editor said it never published the story, which is a shameappropriates an image from an authentic report published in 2023.
“NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s political career is over after money scandal breaks live on radio,” a text message reads photo published on August 6, 2024 on X.
Different versions of the alleged Toronto Star headline circulated Facebook And X. Messages on the latter platform spread comparable claims and articles about a television microphone showing the NDP leader revealing details about a scandal.
Singh is a member of parliament for Burnaby South in British Columbia and is the leader of the NDP since 2017 (archived here And hereThe Social Democratic Party has the fourth-largest number of seats in the Canadian House of Commons, but is in a “trust and supply agreement” with the more centrist Liberals, who won a third mandate in 2021 to form a minority government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Although Singh is often the subject of Canadian political reporting, AFP could find no trace of the article about a money scandal involving the leader.
Toronto Star Public Editor Donovan Vincentwho wrote about others fake screenshots in May 2024 columnconfirmed in an August 21 email that the headline “is indeed a fake ad using our logo.”
None of the links shared online pipe to report on the politician. While many divert now to error pages, the American fact-checking website Lead Stories reported some once resembled the Toronto Star website.
A reverse image search because the photo of Singh that was shared online does not lead to reporting of a financial scandal.
Instead, the party leader’s clothing and background match a interview Singh gave to CTV anchor Vassy Kapelos on June 6, 2023 (archived here, here And here).
The fake Toronto Star screenshot contains the chyron: “Why does the government keep this program going? secret?”
However, CTV shared his interview with titles such as “Jagmeet Singh one-on-one” and “Will Singh force an election over interference?” — a reference to accusations from interference from foreign voices at the time.
The actual interview does not include the alleged incident where Singh spoke without realizing his microphone was on.
AFP has previously debunked fake screenshots from Canadian news organizations and scams using the likenesses of some of the politicians And television presenters.
