no, this photo was not taken at a meeting of the PVDA

The far-right and Flemish nationalist group Schild & Friends (S&V) shares a screenshot of a post in an internal Facebook group of the PVDA on its Facebook page. The photo shows two chairs apparently soiled with remains of human feces. According to Schild & Friends, the photo was taken at a meeting of the extreme left party on May 1 in Ronse. That is not true. The photo has been circulating since at least 2022 and has been linked to various American events and groups in the past.

This fact check was carried out based on the information available at the date of publication. Read more about how we work here.

On Facebook and Reddit circulates a screenshot from an internal Facebook group of the Labor Party (PVDA). “Comrades, may I once again remind you of the general importance of hygiene during our conferences?” we read in the caption. In the photo we see two chairs with what appears to be remains of human feces.

The screenshot was shared by, among others, the extreme right-wing and Flemish nationalist group Shield & Friends. ‘PVDA May 1 meeting in Ronse’, can be read on the S&V Facebook page. The post was shared by 14 other accounts.

The photo was also shared by one other Facebook page and appeared on a number of Dutch subreddits (hereand here). A screenshot of one of the posts on Reddit was shared by a https://twitter.com/KetolifeNow/status/1787531443171705114 shared again.

But was the photo actually taken at a PVDA event in Ronse on May 1?

When was the photo shared?

A number of elements of the screenshot raise questions. For example, part of the group name and the name of the person who posted the photo have been made unrecognizable.

In addition, there is a black lock next to the date the post was supposedly shared. This means that the message is only visible to the person who posted it. So the person who shared the photo probably took the screenshot himself and made his name unrecognizable.

On the social media of the PVDA we find that an event was indeed organized in Ronse on May 1 for the PVDA department of the Flemish Ardennes. The photos only show a procession and no mention is made of an event that took place indoors or while seated.

We enter the photo into Google Lens to determine the origin of the screenshot. We find out Reddit a post back from five months ago. The photo certainly could not have been taken at the May 1 event. The English caption suggests that the photo was not taken in Flanders.

Republicans, WWE and American award shows

The photo was also previously linked to PVDA. In December, a Reddit account shared the same screenshot that is now circulating again. That account posted the photo to multiple subreddits (here and here). In the comments on one of those posts, some think it is ‘fake news’.

In another post on Reddit we find a screenshot of a tweet showing a more zoomed out version of the photo. The photo shared by Schild & Friends probably contains a cut version of an original photo. We find the tweet at https://twitter.com/SBakabella/status/1551392191020507137.

The original photo was shared by the English-language account @SBakabella on July 25, 2022. That account mainly shares content about wrestling and wrestling matches. We cannot find any older posts of the photo.

The photo is regularly reshared by American accounts. The image has already been used in the past to… WWEthe American Republicans and https://twitter.com/kf1lm/status/1759249619836604430 to discredit.