A set of old and unrelated photos of tractors with metal wheels instead of tube tyres are being shared with the false claim that protesting farmers are using them in answer to the police embedding nails on the road to deter protesters from the crossing the border and entering Delhi.
The posts refer to the stringent security measures like multi-layered barricading, concertina wires along with iron nails cemented on roads around the protest site after the January 26, 2021 violence in Delhi. The farmers have been demanding the repeal of three farm bills that were passed by the central government last year in September 2020.
The viral photos are being shared with the caption which translates to, "Wheels without tire tube are being prepared to answer the government's decision to put a nail on the roads of the tractor, Sahib ji, this is self dependent India."
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(In Hindi - बिना टायर ट्यूब के चक्के तैयार किए जा रहे हैं ट्रैक्टर के सरकार द्वारा सड़कों पर कीलें लगाने का जवाब देने के लिए, साहिब जी यह होता है आत्म निर्भर भारत)
Viral on Facebook
On searching with the same caption on Facebook, we found that the photos were viral with the false claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that all five photos being shared are not from the ongoing farmers' protests as being claimed and are old and unrelated with some photos picked from clips dating back five years and some from stock photo sites.
Photo 1
On performing a reverse image we found that this photo has been circulating since 2015. A Tumblr user had posted the same photo in 2015 with the caption that read, "Modern tractor on steel wheels, pretty much the norm in my area with the old order menonites."
Photo 2
This photo is taken from a screen grab of a YouTube video uploaded on July 18, 2019, by the channel Small Scale IndustrY Ideas with the title that reads, "Tractor IRON "Cage Wheels" Handmade The Proletariat Workers / Small Scale IndustrY."
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Photo 3
As in the viral photo one can see the text, "Download from Dreamstime", taking a hint we found that the viral photo is from the stock photo webiste Dreamstime.com. The photo was uploaded with the text, "This Massey-Harris Model 55 farm tractor came with steel wheels."
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Photo 4
We found that the fourth photo of the blue tractor with steel wheels has been on the Internet since 2013. A YouTube clip of the same tractor can be found on the channel Bontrager Entertainment which was uploaded on June 27, 2013. The description of the video states, "Brief history of farming and reason for using steel wheels by the Horse & Buggy Mennonites of New York."
Photo 5
We found the wallpaper of the art photo is being sold on Amazon with the title, "Old Metal Wheels John Deere Wall Picture." The photo of the green tractor is also on this blog which mentions that it is a 1930s John Deere tractor.
BOOM has debunked misinformation around the farmers' protests. Several false claims had gone viral to target the protesting farmers and old photos, videos being shared as recent.
Follow our thread on misinformation around the farmers' protests.