Similar posts spread online this month, with users sharing separate videos of church fires alongside Islamophobic claims. One video shows the collapse of a blazing church steeple; multiple online posts claimed a Muslim migrant intentionally started the fire.
Other posts made the same claim about another video that shows a church on fire next to a parking lot.
“More than 120 churches have been burned to the ground or vandalized by Muslims in Canada,” claims an Instagram post from Aug. 15 that was reposted to Instagram, X and Threads.
Several of the social media accounts spreading the claims have a history of posting anti-Muslim content. One X account under the handle @Khan_Fatimaa1, bears a similar name and profile photo as a suspended account previously included in a Canadian Press fact check for making false claims about church arson.
THE FACTS
A reverse image search reveals the church supposedly set ablaze in France is in fact the Saint-Philomène church in Mercier, Que., about 25 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
A Google Maps street view of the church from 2015 shows it is the same church from the video; details including the building in the background and the crosses and grave markers from the cemetery match.
News articles show the blaze occurred in September 2019, with the original video posted online around that time. The fire caused heavy damage to the church, including the partial collapse of its roof.
Police investigated the fire as a possible arson, and later...
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