Video purporting to show anti-vaccination protest in France is actually from Kenya

A social media post makes false claims about a video showing tear gas and water cannons being used against protesters in the streets.

The caption accompanying the video on the July 14 post said, "Resistance begins to mount against President Macron’s plan for mandatory COVID vaccinations of all French citizens. #france."

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its news feed. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with Facebook.)

France has seen demonstrations against a new government policy announced by President Emmanuel Macron that requires vaccinations for all health care workers and offers people with proof of vaccination privileged access to certain activities. The policy does not mandate vaccines for all French citizens.

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stated on November 26, 2024 in an Instagram post

“The CDC says that little 6 month old babies must get SEVEN doses of the Covid vaccine in order to be considered fully ‘up to date’ on their vaccinations.”

But the protest shown in the Facebook video was not filmed in France. The video was captured at a demonstration in Nairobi, Kenya, that occurred July 14 in response to a local university’s decision to raise tuition fees. 

The same video can be found on YouTube with the title, "University of Nairobi Students demo against fee increment. Clashing with the police." Reuters, through similar videos and a Google Street View, was able to confirm the location to be in Nairobi.

We rate this claim False.