2010 picture from France shared as recent farmer protests in Italy

What is the claim?

Social media posts (archived here, here, and here) of an image of a fleet of tractors are circulating with the claim that it shows scenes from the recent farmers' protests in Verona, Italy. 

The claim has surfaced amid widespread protests by farmers in many parts of Europe, including Germany, France, Greece, and Poland. The farmers in Italy specifically have been protesting against cheap produce being brought in from outside the EU, increasing prices, and red tape, as reported by Reuters. 

However, the image was taken in France in 2010.

Screenshot of the viral claim online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

How did we verify this?

A reverse image search led us to multiple news reports dating back to 2010.

One such report, published by French news website Franceinfo, used this photograph in a 2019 article. The caption under the image reads: “Demonstration of farmers at the call of the FNSEA in Paris, April 27, 2010, to protest against European agricultural policy (loosely translated from French).” The image was credited to AFP photographer Fred Dufour. 

We found the image used in the article on the Agence France-Presse (AFP) website, and the image description states that the photograph captures a protest by French farmers on April 27, 2010. The protest was called by 14 regional farmer unions and was supported by the National Farmers Union (FNSEA). The protests were held against wage cuts and to denounce the European Farm Policy. 

According to a report by France24, the 2010 protests saw over 5,000 grain farmers taking to the streets against decreasing revenues and non-regulation of EU markets.

Screenshot of the AFP photograph published in 2010. (Source: Screenshot/AFP)

The verdict

An old image from a French farmer protest in Paris in 2010 has been shared as a recent photo from Italy. Therefore, we marked this claim as misleading.