On Saturday June 12, 2021, Many Nigerians across multiple locations took to the street in protest to show and air their grievance and dissatisfaction with the government.
This contributed to the continuing trending of the hashtag #June12thProtest.
June 12 is marked as Democracy Day in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Riding on WhatsApp, scam sites soar in wake of COVID-19
Among those using the hashtags are some individuals who alleged that Twitter, or its CEO Jack Dorsey has changed the like and retweet button to green or the Nigerian flag in solidarity with the protest.
A search conducted by the FactCheckHub on Twitter using the phrase “Like button changed” showed results [archived here] of multiple tweets making the claims.
THE CLAIM
Twitter or its CEO Jack Dorsey changed the like and retweet button in solidarity with June 12 protest.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by the FactCheckHub show that the claims are false.
A Twitter user with the username @ChibuzorUkwu tweeted that the retweet button was changed from blue to green.
“Twitter has changed the retweet button colour from blue to green in solidarity with Nigerians on #June12thProtest’ Let’s light the candles of hope and unity that they thought was put out during #EndSARS. Jack is blessed,” his tweet read.
The Twitter retweet icon colour prior to June 12 was green and it is still green.
Findings revealed a noticeable change was made to the retweet option colour in 2016 and it has since been returned to its default green colour.
A Twitter user with the username @urPapaDeyCraze tweeted that the like button changed.
“The like button of any tweet carrying #June12thProtest just changed!!! jack is behind us! RT aggressively,” his tweet read.
The user attached screengrabs of a tweet showing the like button has been replaced by the Nigerian flag. One of the attached image has no flag to represent before S/he retweeted and the other has a flag to represent how after S/he retweeted.
The FactcheckHub traced the original Tweet and found that the claim is false. The tweet had showed the default red heart when liked.
Furthermore, the FactCheckhub fact-checkers liked multiple tweets with the hashtag #KeepItOn and #June12thProtest and it did not change to a flag.
The Factcheckhub observed that the same person or a group of persons are behind this misinformation.
For instance the screenshot of tweets with flags as like icon in circulation has Provii [@provii8], @urpapapadeycraze, and David of FCT [@Dhavidote] as the alleged accounts.
A red flag that the images were manipulated is the the tweets have the same posting time of 8:29am, June 12, they have the same number of likes, quote tweets and content.
This led to further scrutiny and the Factcheckhub observed that these accounts which are existing are interacting with one another.
For instance @UrPapaDeyCraze, tweeted that the like icon changes to flag using a screenshot of Provii’s tweet. Provii came under the tweet to to ask for followers.
The fourth comment on UrPapaDeyCraze tweet shows Provii’s comment confirmation comment ” Wow it’s True guys”.
Dhavidote tweeted manipulated screenshot of his tweet and that of @UrPapadeyCraze
This pattern was noticed on the two other accounts too.
The people behind the misinformation are using it to get traction and engagement.
THE VERDICT
The claims that Twitter retweet and like icon changed in support of the June 12 protest in Nigeria is FALSE. Malicious actors are deliberately misinforming the public for their personal gain.
