A Spanish newspaper put a Sikh-Canadian journalist’s life at risk on Saturday after publishing a doctored photo to make him look like a Paris terror suspect wearing a bomb vest.
Veerender Jubbal's original photo was a selfie he took last year in front of his bathroom mirror, holding an iPad and wearing a plaid shirt.
Instead, someone — it has not been confirmed who — changed the image to him holding up a Qur’an. In the background, a blurry image of a dildo was added to the bathtub ledge.
Photoshopped image of Jubbal on the left compared to the original selfie (right) posted in 2014.
La Razón published the Photoshopped image, naming Jubbal as “one of the terrorists” involved in Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris.
The daily newspaper apologized for its mistake Sunday. But in a series of tweets, Jubbal explained the damage to his reputation had already been done.
Several European outlets picked up the image, and it even made its way onto the same unofficial social media channel ISIS used to claim responsibility for the Paris violence, according to CBC News.
Jubbal added he’s considering taking legal action.
It’s unknown who’s responsible for the doctored photo of Jubbal, though the Toronto area-based freelancer was quick to blame to GamerGate critics.
Jubbal coined the Twitter hashtag #StopGamerGate2014 last year to change misogynistic missives that turned a story about sexism in the video game industry into a harassment campaign against female developers.
“Gamers are absolute garbage like I have been saying for a full year,” said Jubbal.
He mentioned on Twitter that he's been inundated with thousands of messages and interview requests in different languages in the past 48 hours.
Jubbal did not respond to The Huffington Post Canada’s request for comment before publication.
Also on HuffPost
