Photographer Noya Zion was stunned to discover that a photo of her had been circulated around the world, including in Israel, falsely identifying her as a victim of the protests in Iran.
The image was distributed by a United Nations fact-checking team, which reported that four Iranian Jews had allegedly been killed during the protests and included photographs to support the claim. Zion was shocked to see her own image broadcast on television as that of someone purportedly killed.
Speaking with Keshet 12, Zion recounted the moment she realized what had happened, saying she could not believe she was being presented as dead while she was sitting safely in her home.
She described the experience as frightening and surreal, noting the intense stress of seeing herself depicted in such a context. The false report triggered a wave of concerned calls from family members and others, and at least one relative hesitated to inform her parents, unable to accept that the reports might be true.
Zion said the incident underscored the responsibility of both journalists and the public to carefully verify information and images before sharing or consuming them, stressing the importance of critical scrutiny in an era of rapid information spread.