Viral video does not show Muslims enslaving Christian Africans

A video showing a long line of shirtless men with their hands tied, walking down a muddy road under armed guard, has gone viral on social media. Islamophobic accounts began sharing it on June 23 and 25, claiming it showed "Muslims enslaving Black Christian Africans." The posts accused "mainstream media, leftists, the UN and the woke Pope" of covering up the story. The comments sections filled with hate speech targeting Muslims.

However, the video has been taken out of context. A reverse image search traced the footage to a publication on May 14 by the Congolese local outlet Kivu Morning Post. According to the outlet, the video shows individuals from South Kivu province who were detained in the Kunda area of Ituri province on suspicion of ties to armed groups. The Bashi community, a Bantu ethnic group, contested this version, claiming the detainees were targeted for being Bashi.

Further investigation revealed local news reports from Radio Okapi, operated by the UN mission MONUSCO, on May 13. The report states that over a hundred civilians, mostly young people from South Kivu, were arrested by the army on May 13 in the village of Kunda. Their presence in the conflict-affected region was deemed suspicious. Authorities suspected them of belonging to so-called "subversive" groups, but this was not formally established. The detainees were identified as agricultural and mining workers. They were transferred to Bunia the next day and held at military headquarters awaiting interrogation. The outcome remains unknown.

Notably, none of the local reports mention any religious dimension or allegations of Arab Muslims enslaving Christians. The event is framed as a security intervention amid armed tensions. The video had also been misrepresented earlier in May, with claims it showed M23 rebels. Fact-checking outlet Congo Check debunked that claim, linking the footage to the same civilian arrests.