Overview
- Matheus Ferrero of Belo Horizonte told Brazilian outlet Aos Fatos he removed his Instagram after harassment and reported hacks tied to the photo’s sudden prominence.
- The image, titled “Woman Wearing Blue Denim Jacket,” was shot in 2017 with the subject’s consent and posted to free stock platforms Unsplash and Pexels.
- Downloads surpassed 400,000, a scale of reuse that helped the picture circulate widely once it was linked to Indian election claims.
- Indian social media users misidentified Ferrero as the woman in the photo, pushing his name into local trends and fueling abuse, according to news reports.
- Reporting identifies the woman as Larissa, a Minas Gerais hairdresser who says she has never been to India and that her photo was obtained from a stock site without her involvement in politics.