It was on Thursday that the Portuguese Government announced drastic measures: schools across the country would close to avoid a large concentration of people in the same space, bars, clubs, restaurants and commercial spaces would have restrictions and limitations on access, home visits would be banned and there would be economic compensation for workers and companies affected by this epidemic and all that it brought. The order was clear: stay at home or, at the very least, maintain social distance to try to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
With this scenario as a backdrop, on Friday night (the first after the announcement of the measures), expectations were raised about what the scenario would be in the main nightlife venues in the main cities of the country. Were they deserted? In Lisbon, the so-called pink street, in Cais do Sodré, is the main meeting place for night owls, and according to one report carried out by Correio da Manhã that night, it was in fact with a lot of people, mostly “foreigners”. According to the same report, some commercial establishments on that street closed as a precaution, but others remained open, serving tourists and other people who circulated apparently unconcerned. There was no one wearing personal protective masks in the images.
In fact, the new measures announced by the government had not yet formally entered into force, so commercial establishments were not, by law, prohibited from functioning. The recommendation, however, was clear: avoid crowds, stay home for prevention.
The Correio da Manhã report on Friday night shows carefree young people on the pink street of Cais do Sodré
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This Saturday, however, the Facebook page “Eu Vi” shared an image of the pink street full of people, implying that it was an image of “Cais do Sodré last night”, and suggesting that, in this way , control of the outbreak would not be achieved. The “I saw” page describes itself as an entertainment page, but according to Facebook data, the publication had more than 33,000 views in less than 24 hours.
Although Cais do Sodré was not empty that night, the photograph was misused to portray that reality, since it does not correspond to the same date.
Publication on Facebook wrongly used a photograph of Cais do Sodré taken in July 2015
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The image used is a photograph taken on July 3, 2015 by the photojournalist from Gonçalo Villaverde, from Global Imagens, regarding the entry into force of a new law that prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors under 18 years of age. That night, a summer night, there was indeed a crowd on the street in question, which did not compare with the number of people who still circulated in that place on Friday, in full urgency to contain the new coronavirus.
Photograph is original from Global Imagens and was taken in July 2015
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On Saturday, the scenario was already different. As the Observer reported, PSP went to the Cais do Sodré and Bairro Alto area at night and ordered all bars to be closed, leaving only restaurants and convenience stores open. Bar owners were told: “They have to close now. They are orders and they have to be carried out ”. The owners of the bars followed the orders, showing understanding for the preventive measures. “I understand and agree. I think that if these measures should have been taken before, the worst will be for the business, but that is a problem for later ”, said one of the owners of one of the bars to the Observer.
It is false that the photograph shows a crowd on the famous Cais do Sodré street the night after the government’s notices. It is true that, that night, Cais do Sodré was not empty, that is, there were “hundreds” of people, mainly tourists, who did not follow the Government’s recommendations to maintain social distances and opt for preventive isolation, but the photograph used is abusive. This is an image from July 2015, which does not illustrate the pandemic moment we are experiencing.
According to the Observer’s classification system, this content is:
Wrong
At the Facebook rating system, this content is:
FALSE: the main claims of the content are factually inaccurate. Generally, this option corresponds to the “false” or “mostly false” classifications on fact checkers’ websites.
Note: this content was selected by the Observer as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.
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