How to check a misleading image or caption

A practical method for checking where an image came from, what it shows and whether the caption matches the evidence.

Adapted from a guide first written for Quebec readers: passages specific to Quebec were removed. Rules in your province may differ.

A genuine photograph can still mislead when it is old, cropped, translated badly or paired with a false description. Treat the image and the claim about it as two separate things to verify.

A quick verification sequence

Write down the exact claim: who, what, where and when.
Search a distinctive phrase from the caption and look for an earlier publication or the photographer’s original post.
Use reverse-image search to find other appearances, while remembering that a match does not prove the first result is the original.
Check visible clues such as signs, weather, language, uniforms and landmarks against independent reporting or official records.
Look for the uncropped image or surrounding video and compare the full context.
State what you could and could not verify; do not infer a date, place or identity from appearance alone.

Before sharing

Do not repost a graphic image just to ask whether it is real. If the post targets a private person, avoid amplifying identifying details. A reliable correction links to the primary evidence and explains the specific mismatch, rather than simply labelling the post “fake.”

For public statistics, trace a number to the original table and check its geography, time period, denominator and definition. For an image, prioritize the creator, agency, original publication or full recording over copied screenshots.

Canadian Heritage: online disinformation · Statistics Canada: data and statistics

Sources and limits

Sources: Government of Canada information on online disinformation and Statistics Canada’s public data portal. A reverse-image match is a lead to investigate, not proof by itself.

General information based on federal and national rules; provincial rules may differ. Confirm with the official body before acting.