Why do we feel like the Kate Middleton photo scandal is only just getting started? That news story, in which England’s royal family had to admit that the Princess of Wales edited a photo of her family sent to news agencies, is still churning. And now, Instagram is weighing in.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have more than 15 million followers on their Instagram account, and the now-infamous, heavily edited photo of Kate and their children was posted there on March 10. But if you go to that photo now, you’ll see Instagram has plastered it with a red-text warning reading, “Altered photo/video. The same altered photo was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post.”
Click on the warning, and you’ll get a message from Instagram noting, “Independent fact-checkers say the photo or image has been edited in a way that could mislead people, but not because it was shown out of context,” and crediting that to a fact-checker, EFE Verifica.
Obviously, if you’re on Instagram, then you’ll know that influencers and celebrities in particular use Photoshop, filters, airbrushing apps and other editing tools to change the appearance of the photos they post all the time — and without being hit by warnings from Instagram. (Kardashian family, anyone?) But Instagram seems to be commenting less on the fact that Kate may have softened her hair or adjusted Princess Charlotte’s sleeve, and more that the photo was presented as a news photo and later recalled by the very news agencies that originally shared it.
Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why some edited photos earn a warning and others do not.
It’s a reminder that we’re in a brave new world of manipulated images now. Even prominent figures are comfortable attempting to pass modified photographs off as authentic, it’s never clear how much editing has been done to a published image and people can’t be blamed for being suspicious.
Car photo controversy
Earlier in the week, a different photo of the…
Read the full article here