Is McDonald's banned in Qatar?
Since the conflict started between Israel and Palestine, social media has been flooded with misinformation. We also came across one such video going viral on social media. In the video, it can be seen that the McDonald’s board installed on the roadside is being destroyed by a bulldozer. Users are sharing this video and claiming that McDonald’s has been banned in Qatar and all its restaurants have been closed.
Claim made by the user
A user named Javed Khichi shared this video and wrote, “Qatar has boycotted terrorist Israel to some extent, closed all McD0nald in Qatar, and banned them from Qatar. Till now, Qatar has taken strict steps in the Arab world. It is hoped that Qatar will not stop here and will take strict steps in the future also for the rights of Palestinians”.
(Translated into English)
Fact Check
To know the truth behind the viral video, the DFRAC team converted the video into some keyframes and reverse-searched it on Google. We found this video was uploaded on a YouTube channel named “Simpson Dirt Construction”. The video was uploaded five years ago. The channel did not provide much information about the video except the description“We demo’d the McDonald’s in Pratt. No lunch that day! Pratt”.
Upon investigating the “About” section of this YouTube channel, we found the address mentioning MacArthur Road Wichita Pratt United States (USA). The United States is also specified in its country option.
Moreover, we did not get any media reports regarding the closure or ban on all McDonald’s restaurants in Qatar. On further investigation, we found some tweets on the X handle of McDonald’s franchise in Arab countries such as Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, with a statement. In this statement, McDonald’s Israel’s declaration of offering free meals to Israeli soldiers is characterized as an ‘Individual and Private Act’.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is clear from the DFRAC’s fact check that the claim made with the viral video is misleading. We didn’t get any media reports regarding McDonald’s ban in Qatar and the closure of its restaurants in Qatar.
