Type keyword(s) to search

News

Did MSNBC use 2017 Boston No Kings protest image? Viral fake picture claim debunked

BBC Verify debunks false claims that MSNBC used 2017 footage for the 2025 Boston “No Kings” protest, confirming the viral video is authentic and recent.
posted by Ashray BS
Monday 10/20/2025 at 9:38AM EDT
  • People march in the "No Kings" protest along Fifth Avenue on June 14, 2025 in New York, New York. Hundreds of marches and protests as part of a "national day of peaceful protest" against the Trump administration are happening across the United States today in opposition to his presidency and his policies. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
    People march in the "No Kings" protest along Fifth Avenue on June 14, 2025 in New York, New York. Hundreds of marches and protests as part of a "national day of peaceful protest" against the Trump administration are happening across the United States today in opposition to his presidency and his policies. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

    A claim spreading on social media went viral, saying that video recorded by MSNBC that was shown of large crowds at Boston during Saturday's "No Kings" protest were videos from a 2017 rally.

    But through BBC and other independent verification, the videos were found to be authentic and there is evidence that it was filmed on October 18, 2025, at those protests.

    This confusion was sparked when Grok, Elon Musk’s social media platform X’s AI chatbot, falsely claimed that aerial footage aired by MSNBC was archived video from a past event.

    The speculation spread online with quick force, echoed by right wing pundits and accounts endorsing the legacy of the President Donald Trump, some of whom claimed that the size of the protest was being inflated using dated images.

    BBC Verify reporter Thomas Copeland fact-checked the footage and debunked the false claims, and identified the image as taken during Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration in Boston.

    After conducting reverse image searches and cross-referencing with footage from local media outlets, BBC concluded that no versions of the image existed online before the protest on October 18.

    "Grok has once again misled X users by falsely claiming that this viral video of crowds at yesterday's "No Kings" protest in Boston... But Grok's assertion is incorrect. He exact same aerial view of the crowd can be seen in multiple other videos of the protest in Boston posted by local news outlets yesterday," BBC Verify’s Shayan Sardarizadeh explained on X.

    More about the No Kings protest as MSNBC faces backlash

    The “No Kings” protests mobilized millions across the US and around the world on October 18. In Boston alone, organizers estimated the crowd to be approximately 125,000 people who came to the park to listen to speeches, one of the city’s biggest political gatherings in years.

    The national protest took place across more than 2,500 US cities, from Washington, DC, New York and Chicago to San Diego and involved an estimated 7 million people.

    Even after the clarification, MSNBC was attacked by some social media users who accused the network of using deceptive visuals to exaggerate the extent of the protests.

    The video in question depicted a large crowd in Boston Common with banners and stages consistent with those shown in other confirmed videos from the same date. At this point, MSNBC hasn’t given a public response to the speculations and false rumors caused by the misinformation.

    The viral claim which was generated by an AI on X highlights the ease with which artificial intelligence is able to propagate false rumors without human moderation.

    TOPICS: Human Interest, MSNBC, Donald Trump, Grok, No Kings, No Kings protest


More Human Interest on Primetimer: