This week, a photo posted by Greta Thunberg earlier this year caused outrage after it resurfaced on social media.
Not because it showed the very real impact of the climate crisis we’re currently facing, or because it shone light on any other important issue which desperately needs attention drawing to it, but because it showed the teenager eating her lunch out of plastic containers.
Yes, really. Since the picture reemerged, social media has been awash with a select few individuals criticising the 16-year-old for her so-called ‘hypocritical actions’. Not stopping there, some have even taken to editing the picture to make it appear problematic.
One such edited version of the photo shows Greta sat on a train eating her lunch – as in the original – with one major difference: a group of young children living in poverty look on from the window.
The photo was shared by the son of Brazil’s controversial president Jair Bolsonaro, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is bidding to become the Brazilian Ambassador to the United States, and quickly went viral.
Bolsonaro captioned the image (translated to English):
‘You stole my childhood…’ said the George Soros Open Society-funded girl.
This is in reference to the teenager’s appearance at the United Nations Climate Summit on Monday (September 23), when she stunned the world with a powerful speech about the climate emergency we are currently facing.
In it, the climate activist warned we are ‘in the beginning of a mass extinction’ before criticising world leaders and the older generation for stealing her dreams and her childhood with their ’empty words’.
The aspiring Brazilian Ambassador to the United States decided to make a mockery of the 16-year-old’s impassioned speech though, suggesting Greta receives funding from Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. There is no evidence that this is the case.
As per The Metro, many right-wing conspiracy theorists are convinced Soros is the secret leader of an all-powerful group of liberals who have a massive influence on global affairs.
Brazilian Senator Eliziane Gama, who forms part of the Foreign Relations commission which will decide whether to assess Bolsonaro’s application to be the new ambassador to the United States, said his post was a ‘great irresponsibility’.
She continued:
Fake news today is an evil which must be combated in every democratic society in the world. It’s something that we do not accept, and it is accepted even less when it is done by a public representative.
It’s lamentable, and I think the deputy needs to retract it, make an apology to the 16-year-old and to both the Brazilian and international society.
Bolsonaro disputed that he was peddling fake news, taking to Twitter to say people should know it was simply a meme and not ‘real news’.
Regardless, the fact a grown man is using a falsified image in a poor attempt to portray a 16-year-old girl – a girl who has inspired an entire generation of young people, no less – in a negative light is extremely telling.
Luckily, the climate activist recognises that Bolsonaro and other like-minded individuals are simply ‘threatened‘ by her strong-willed nature and dedication to doing the right thing.
Keep up the good work, Greta.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).