Nigeria: #spotcheck - Striking Online Photo Shows New York City, Not Lagos, Nigeria

3 July 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Muktar Balogun

#SPOTCHECK: Striking online photo shows New York City, not Lagos, Nigeria

The state of Lagos, in the southwest of the country, is home to Nigeria's largest city of the same name.

As well as being the most populous, Lagos is the country's economic and cultural hub, playing a key role in both local and international trade.

In this context, in May 2024, a user on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, shared a photo claiming it was of Lagos at night from space.

"Wow. Lagos as seen from space. Beautiful Yoruba city," the user told his 92,000 followers.

Some X users asked for the claim to be verified, while others dismissed the photo.

But does the photo show what it says?

New York City, not Lagos

A reverse image search of the photo led us to a post on idea-sharing platform Pinterest by The Real Deal, a website that focuses on real estate. Here the photo is identified as being New York City.

Googling the photo led us to a website called Science Photo Gallery, where the same photo was captioned "New York at night, ISS image. Photographed on 18th October 2015 by astronauts on the International Space Station".

We found the same photo taken in March 2013 by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Reaction farming on X

Reaction farming is a tactic used by social media users to create viral moments that generate reactions and therefore financial benefit.

X currently runs a monetisation programme where users earn money from interaction on the platform.

Judging by the other posts on the account, the user who claimed it was Lagos probably took the photo from the viral post to get reactions.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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