22. Paris drowning in rubbish and rat infestations. Fake or not?

Images of Paris drowning in rubbish and rat infestations amid the pension reform strikes are making headlines around the world in early March 2023. The French government’s decision to force through its pension reform has sparked angry demonstrations across the country, with many videos of chaos in Paris circulating online. More than 7,000 tones of foul-smelling rubbish and waste continued to pile up in Paris, blocking doorways and pavements, as refuse collectors extended their nine-day strike for at least another five days in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s plan to increase the retirement age. With bin lorries grounded at depots and at least three waste incinerators in the Paris area at a standstill, the national government and the capital’s socialist-run city hall were engaged in a bitter standoff over rotting debris in the city. But people aren’t just worried about a few garbage bags, the real issue is that Paris, like most large cities, is infested with rats.

For every person living in Paris, there are 1.5 to 1.75 rats, making the City of Lights one of the most infested cities in the world, and prompting the French National Medicine Academy to issue a warning last July about the “threat to the human health” posed by rats and the diseases they can pass on to humans.

HOW CAN WE VERIFY THIS?

However, as credible as they may seem, some of these videos have been taken out of context. France 24 analyses the videos that have been posted and concludes that though some of the photos are current, many of the videos are older, dating even from 2016, and migrant camps. There are several videos analyzing and debunking the sources of the dramatic videos with running rats and people walking through garbage.

Politico comments that Parisians are getting ready to wait it out, since they want to achieve a goal with their strike. The garbage “is not a particularly enjoyable sight, but that’s also the goal of the strike,” said Guillaume Meigniez, 28, a long-time resident of northern Paris. Meigniez said he’s not particularly worried about the rats, because they’re already “quite numerous” in normal times and “they’re not going to start ganging up and attacking people.” But “if the rats come out, it might shake things up a bit,” he said.

WHAT ARE OTHER SOURCES SAYING?

All the sources agree that the situation is alarming and all major news outlets have been reporting on the issue, but not as alarming as the rats running around the streets freely and people walking through the mountains of garbage. Associated Press reports that the garbage has become a symbol of the protest

FAKE OR NOT?

True, though massively exaggerated and boosted with some of the old fake videos. “The ratpocalypse” as The Guardian named it, is still not happening!