Fact File: Videos used to claim Muslims are protesting Christmas are missing context

Several videos shared to social media over the past few weeks have claimed to show Muslim immigrants protesting Christmas displays in different European cities. 

Videos from Germany and Italy show people waving flags on the streets, some with Christmas lights visible in the background. 

The videos are not recent, have been taken out of context and do not show protests against Christmas. 

PROTEST NOT HELD AT CHRISTMAS MARKET

“Thousands of Muslim immigrants have arrived to the Christmas festivity fair in Germany to protest against the tradition, that goes against their beliefs and Islam,” reads the text on a video with more than a million views posted to the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Nov. 20. 

The 21-second clip, which was shared by Canadian accounts, shows a large group of people standing on a street waving flags and holding signs while the voice of an unseen person leads a call and response with the crowd. 

THE FACTS

An image-reverse search for keyframes from the video led to several fact checks that traced the clip back to a protest held in Hamburg, Germany in October 2024. 

An uncropped version of the video was shared in an article about the protest published Oct. 13, 2024 in the Italian publication Il Giornale. 

The demonstration focused on opposition to Israel and the treatment of Uyghurs in China and took place in the “Kreuzweg/Steindamm” area of the city, according to reports from German media. 

Google’s street view confirms the location as Kreuzweg street near the intersection with Steindamm in central Hamburg.

There was no mention of Christmas in the media reports, and the protest was held long before any Christmas markets opened in Hamburg, according to an archive of a website listing details about Christmas markets in the city.

The event organizer, Muslim Interaktiv, was accused of anti-constitutional activities and banned by German authorities last month.

VIDEO SHOWS NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION

Another video shared on X on Nov. 25 was posted with claims that it shows “Islamists” in Milan, Italy, climbing a statue, waving flags and playing music “solely to disrupt the family Christmas market.” The 48-second clip shows a group of men standing on the steps that lead to the statue of King Victor Emmanuel II in the Piazza del Duomo at night holding flags and cheering as music plays in the background. The camera pans to show the rest of the square filled with people and a large, brightly lit Christmas tree. 

THE FACTS

The Christmas tree in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo will be lit on Dec. 6, Italy’s Corriere Della Sera reports, meaning the video of a supposed Christmas protest in Milan can’t be recent.

A reverse-image search of keyframes from the video found it was shared in January, 2025 with a caption implying it was taken during New Year’s celebrations. 

A different video taken at the same statue was shared on Instagram on Jan. 1 with the caption “Migrants Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Milan.” The Canadian Press identified three men from that video who matched ones seen in the video with claims about the Christmas market. 

New Year’s Eve at the Piazza del Duomo is a popular event, with numerous videos online showing large crowds watching fireworks displays, listening to music and taking in the festive lights, which are still up over New Year’s. 

While there is a Christmas market held at the perimeter of the Duomo cathedral, the merchant stalls aren’t visible in the video and there’s nothing to indicate the men are protesting the market. 

GROUP CELEBRATES FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

An X post on Nov. 8 claims that German towns are cancelling Christmas markets over the cost of security and says, “This is what muslims are doing to the ones that remain.” The accompanying video shows an overhead view of a large group of people walking through what looks to be a Christmas market, cheering, whistling and chanting while some wave flags and beat drums. 

THE FACTS

A reverse image search of keyframes from the third video found it had originally been posted a year ago. 

A post on X from Dec. 10, 2024 identifies the location as Essen, Germany. The video was also shared the next day by far-right German politician and member of the European Parliament Christine Anderson, who said, in English, there were 11,000 Syrians marching through the city of Essen, celebrating the fall of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Many people in the video are holding the Syrian revolution flag, which has since been made the official flag of Syria. 

Germany was home to close to a million Syrian refugees at the time of the Assad regime’s fall on Dec. 8, 2024. German news agency dpa reported thousands joined marches across the country that weekend to celebrate the news. 

While it’s unclear whether the Essen Christmas market was specifically chosen as a route by the marchers, the location the video was taken, Willy-Brandt-Platz, is in the city centre and the south end of the sprawling holiday market. The Canadian Press was able to identify the location based on a sign for “Hotel Handelshof,” visible at about 34 seconds into the video. 

Increased security measures are putting a strain on the cost holding Christmas markets, but claims that German towns are cancelling the annual events are unfounded. An investigation in October by German news agency DW found that while a few markets weren’t expected to run this year, there was no evidence of widespread cancellations across the country.

Security measures such as concrete barriers and roadblocks at holiday markets and other major public events have become standard in countries worldwide in an effort to prevent vehicle attacks like the one at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Dec. 20, 2024 that killed six people and injured more than 300 others. 

The motive in that attack remains unclear and the murder trial is ongoing for accused attacker Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a doctor in his 50s originally from Saudi Arabia who holds anti-Islam views, according to government officials and media reports. 

Rumours the Magdeburg Christmas market wouldn’t be held this year over security concerns were proved wrong when merchants opened their stalls on Nov. 20. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2025.