FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss Holding Phone Upside Down?
An image shared on Twitter over 300 times purportedly shows U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss holding a phone upside down.
UK’s new Foreign Secretary seen holding phone upside down
Is it so she can talk to Australia and New Zealand? pic.twitter.com/UF2RkO7odF
— UK is with EU (@ukiswitheu) September 16, 2021
Verdict: False
The photo has been digitally altered to make it appear as if the phone is upside down.
Fact Check:
Truss was promoted to foreign secretary on Sept. 15, after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a wide-ranging reorganization of his cabinet, according to Politico. She is the first woman to hold the position in more than a decade, The Guardian reported.
Following her promotion, a picture of her sitting in a chair in an office seemingly using a phone the wrong way has been widely shared on Twitter. “UK’s new Foreign Secretary seen holding phone upside down,” reads one such tweet. “Is it so she can talk to Australia and New Zealand?”
The photo, however, has been digitally altered. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the original picture posted on Twitter by Truss on Aug. 20, 2019. In that version, the phone appears upright.
First call today with Japan’s Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry @SekoHiroshige. The future of the 🇬🇧-🇯🇵 partnership is bright and we will move quickly to negotiate a UK- Japan FTA. #ReadyToTrade pic.twitter.com/QeDIMhxKwS
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) August 20, 2019
“First call today with Japan’s Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry @SekoHiroshige,” reads Truss’ tweet. “The future of the partnership is bright and we will move quickly to negotiate a UK- Japan FTA.” (RELATED: Did Boris Johnson Have A Black Eye While Speaking At A COVID-19 Briefing?)
The unedited photo was also featured in an August 2019 article on Nippon.com, a Japanese news website, that recounted what was discussed on the call between Truss and Seko Hiroshige, Japan’s former minister of economy, trade and industry.
Truss signed the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in October 2020, according to a British government press release. The agreement was Britain’s first major deal after Brexit, Reuters reported.
