Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral set on fire? Fact-checking viral videos

Several viral TikTok videos have falsely claimed that Paris’ iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral was attacked and set on fire “terrors.” The misleading clips, accompanied hashtags like #NotreDameFire and #ParisAttack, have sparked widespread concern and confusion across social media. Several TikTok videos have falsely claimed that Paris’ iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral was set on fire on Wednesday.(AFP) The viral videoOne widely circulated 30-second video, posted on September 10, shows three masked individuals in what appears to be a desert setting, using a torch to burn a miniature model resembling Notre-Dame’s spire. Shortly afterward, older footage showing the cathedral engulfed in flames began resurfacing, further fueling the rumor. The videos quickly gained traction on TikTok and spread to platforms like X (formerly Twitter). The truthThe clip of the masked men burning the model is not new and has no verified connection to any real militant group. The video first emerged in late January 2024, shared ultra-conservative British account Jim Ferguson, who claimed it was released militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group active in Syria. However, this claim was quickly debunked experts. “No, HTS is not calling for the release of people in France and is not threatening to burn down Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral,” Wassim Nasr, a journal at FRANCE 24, wrote at the time on X. ”Everything about this video circulating on social media is ridiculous, from the message to the Egyptian accent, the outfits, and the model.” Nasr added that the video was dributed through anonymous channels and not shared via any official HTS media outlets. Broderick McDonald, a researcher at Oxford University specializing in jihad groups, also dismissed the clip as a fabrication. “The people in the video seem to have tried to copy certain elements of the HTS logo, but the result is far from identical and does not resemble any of the traditional allied groups that have fought alongside HTS over the past decade,” he told FRANCE 24. What about the footage of Notre-Dame burning?The viral footage showing the cathedral on fire is from the April 2019 blaze, which destroyed Notre-Dame’s roof and spire. The horic church was reopened to the public on December 8, 2024, following a massive five-year, $760 million restoration project.