Angela Merkel's censored photo in Saudia Arabia was actually doctored

German chancellor's image showing her hair censored on Saudi TV had gone viral on websites

Saudi Arabia had run into a controversy after a recent visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as social media users criticised the kingdom for censoring her hair on a TV channel.

But the incessant criticism was uncalled for as the image of Merkel users kept sharing on social media showing her hair blurred was actually doctored.

The German chancellor visited the kingdom for the first time in seven years where she met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz on April 30 as she began a visit focused on bilateral relations and preparations for the next G20 meeting.



Like other female western visitors, Merkel did not cover her hair on her arrival in the conservative kingdom.

Soon after the meetings, a picture, said to be from a Saudi TV channel, went viral showing Merkel standing next to the king with her hair censored.

The image then was reposted on many websites around the world and soon became a hot issue on social media.



It was found out the picture was first shared on Twitter by Sarah Abdullah, an independent Lebanese journalist, who has a large following. The image was retweeted over 2,000 times.

https://twitter.com/sahouraxo/status/859924707604353024

However, it later turned out that the image was doctored after people shared the original video of the channel proving that Merkel's hair was not censored at all.

https://twitter.com/SR_SUB8/status/860098640483954690

Further, the Saudi Press Agency also shared the uncensored image which meant that the state media had no issue with showing Merkel’s hair on their media.

https://twitter.com/amencarini/status/860425675643269121

The article originally appeared on BuzzFeed