Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Ottawa, Ontario, in late January after the Canadian government required proof of COVID-19 vaccination for truckers crossing the U.S. border. Colloquially known as the "Freedom Convoy," the demonstration inspired similar movements across the world.
A Facebook post shared Feb. 14 claims to show an aerial view of a recent protest in Australia.
"Canberra, Australia. The freedom convoy is much bigger than expected," reads text in the post, which includes an image that shows large crowds gathered in a field. "Over 1.5 million cars were counted at the rally."
The post generated close to 2,000 interactions in less than a week. But the claim is false, as independent fact-checking organizations have reported.
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An anti-vaccine mandate protest did recently take place in Canberra. But the photo in the post shows a festival in England that took place nearly three years ago.
USA TODAY reached out to social media users who shared the claim for comment.
The image in the Facebook post shows an aerial view of people at the annual Glastonbury Festival, an event featuring dance, music and theater. London-based photographer Aaron Chown told USA TODAY the festival took place in Somerset, a county in South West England, in summer 2019.
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