Protesters claim Italian authorities tampered with ‘live webcam’ to show empty square instead of huge anti-vaccine-passport rally
Protesters in Italy have claimed that the authorities rigged a supposedly live webcam to show an empty square in Trieste’s city center while it was packed with demonstrators against the vaccine passport mandate.
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On Monday evening, crowds gathered in the Piazza Unita d’Italia in Trieste to protest against the government’s imposition of a ‘green pass’. All workers must be certified that they have had a positive Covid-19 test within the last 48 hours.
Videos from the square showed hundreds of people staging a sit-in in the northern Italian city, however, as highlighted by one of the protesters in a widely shared video, the city’s webcam suggested the piazza was almost empty.
The footage starts with the camera focusing in on a protester’s phone in which SkylineWebcams.com’s live stream for Trieste’s Piazza Unita d’Italia is shown. The empty square, as seen on the live webcam, appears to be in stark contrast to the reality, as the demonstrator pans their camera to show hundreds of people present in the Piazza Unita d’Italia.
Attenzione!Guardate cosa mostrano sulla webcam di Trieste e rendetevi conto con i vostri occhi della realtà!Così fanno con tutte le FALSE INFORMAZIONI alle quali la gente crede ciecamente. Svegliaaa???? pic.twitter.com/dT99Ia6Uop
— Sabrina F. (@itsmeback_) October 19, 2021
Online protestors and others have accused Italian authorities of manipulating the webcam in order to prevent news about the unrest from traveling far.
Another group highlighted the discrepancies in live webcam footage and those captured on the scene at the square.
Trieste officials have yet to comment on whether or not the feed was compromised.
The city on the country’s border with Slovenia has been a hotspot for protests against the imposition of the so-called ‘green pass’. The pass’s introduction Friday has been followed by sit-in protests. On Monday, police clashed with protesters at the city’s port. Demonstrators who wanted to stop the city from moving were dispersed with tear gas and water canon.
According to Stefano Puzzer of the Port Workers Coordination of Trieste, some 40% of Trieste’s port workers are not vaccinated. This figure does not reflect the overall Italian population. More than 80% of people over 12 years are fully vaccinated.
The ‘green pass’ was implemented last Friday, having been voted into law in September.
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