Veerender Jubbal, a Canadian man, is now in the midst of defending his name and image after a photoshopped image that depicted him as one of the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks circulated online and on daily newspapers.
Jubbal, a freelance writer living in the Greater Toronto area, was shown in the altered image wearing a suicide bomb vest while holding a copy of the Quran.
The original image, however, was an innocent selfie taken by Jubbal. The iPad that he used to take the picture was edited to look like a copy of the Quran, and then a suicide bomb vest was placed over his clothes. An item resembling a sex toy was even added to the background of the edited picture.
The edited image was posted on social media platform Telegram by an unofficial support group for ISIS. Telegram is the same platform which the group used to claim the responsibility for the recent attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people and caused injuries to hundreds more.
The picture circulated in international media, with captions stating that he was one of the terrorists involved in the attack. La Razon, a newspaper in Spain that mistakenly used the image, has apologized for using the edited picture.
Jubbal took to Twitter in an attempt to clear his name, stating that his selfie was photoshopped and that he was simply a Sikh man with a turban living in Canada that has never been to Paris.
People are editing, and photoshopping my selfies as if I am one of the people causing the issues/problems in Paris.
— Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 14, 2015
You can all check the last retweets. Let us start with basics. Never been to Paris. Am a Sikh dude with a turban. Lives in Canada. — Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 14, 2015
In addition to La Razon, a host of European news outlets utilized the edited picture, claiming that Jubbal was among the terrorists that attacked Paris.
Jubbal has since thanked the news outlets that were setting the record straight, as he heard from family in India and people from all over the world about how his image was being wrongly used.
While it is not determined who edited the selfie of Jubbal, he claimed that it was the work of members of the GamerGate movement, a controversial one that claims is fighting for ethical standards on journalism in the video game industry.
Jubbal first encountered GamerGate as it ascended into a movement late last year, when he started the hashtag #StopGamerGate2014.
The edited image is actually not a new one, having first surfaced in August. The original image was uploaded by Jubbal earlier that month.
