Wilders’ tactics prompts “fake news” concerns in Netherlands election
PVV leader Geert Wilders tweeting a Photoshopped image of D66 leader Alexander Pechtold protesting with Hamas supporters on Monday morning, is leading to concern that the Dutch parliamentary elections in March will be dominated by "fake news" as the American elections were last year, NRC reports.
The Photoshopped image shows Pechtold standing in the midst of bearded Muslim men holding signs with texts like "Sharia for the Netherlands" and "Islam will conquer Europe". Wilders circumvents the accusation of "fake news" by never actually claiming that the photo is real. "Is this the next step?" he tweeted with the photo.
According to NRC, the PVV likely did not Photoshop the image themselves - photos of Pechtold among bearded Muslims have been circulating on the internet since 2010. And Wilders tweeted the real image himself six months ago.
Pechtold responded by calling the image "creative cutting and pasting by Geert Wilders" in his own tweet.
