An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a CNN headline claiming a “man was sentenced to death after failed suicide attempt.” 

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

This image is digitally fabricated. And is not an authentic headline.

Fact Check:

The Chinese Health Ministry is refusing to release statistics on suicides that have occurred under the country’s zero-COVID policies, according to Radio Free Asia. In the U.S., a study from the medical journal Pediatrics found there had been a “Steady increase” in the rise of children admitted to emergency rooms with suicidal thoughts, CNN reported.

The Facebook post allegedly shows a CNN article claiming a man was sentenced to death after a failed suicide attempt. The alleged article features a mugshot of an Asian man, with the byline attributed to Joshua Berlinger, a freelance journalist, and Yoonjung Seo of CNN. “Man sentenced to death after failed suicide attempt,” the alleged title reads. (RELATED: Did CNN Report The Russians Gave Brittney Griner A DNA Test To Determine Her Gender?)

This image is digitally fabricated. There are no credible news reports  that this is a legitimate CNN headline. The story does not appear on CNN’s website on any of their verified social media accounts. The headline and image can be traced to a search engine called memegine, a self-described “meme search engine.”

Using reverse image search, Check Your Fact has identified the man in the image as Wan Yun, a former volleyball coach. Yun was arrested in a 2017 sex trafficking sting in Texas, according to ABC13.

This is not the first time a fabricated headline has circulated on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim that Time magazine named President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “the most unpopular duo.”