A video that shows an argument between shoppers at an Australian department store has been viewed tens of thousands of times in Facebook and Twitter posts alongside a claim that Chinese nationals have been banned from supermarkets in Australia.
The 42-second video shows an altercation between an Asian couple and a Caucasian man at a branch of Big W, an Australian department store., "The tweets caption states\xa0in part: “Chinese not allowed in Supermarkets in Australia So it’s started”.", Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:, The clip circulated online as scenes of panic buying were reported in Australia during the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 152,000 people and infected over 2.2 million others worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)., , The video\xa0has also been shared on Facebook here, here, here and here; and on Twitter here, here, here and here\xa0alongside a similar claim., The claim is false; Australia’s major supermarket chains told AFP they have not\xa0banned\xa0Chinese nationals in their stores as of April 2020., Woolworths Group, which owns supermarket chain Woolworths and department store Big W, declined to comment on the details of the incident seen in the video in the misleading posts. In an email to AFP on April 17, a spokesperson for the retail company\xa0said: “We welcome anyone who wishes to shop at our stores.”, A spokesperson for another major supermarket chain, Coles, told AFP via email on April 17: “It’s absolutely untrue. Coles has not banned Chinese customers.”, The video in the misleading posts has circulated in reports about\xa0a conflict between shoppers over baby formula at a\xa0Big W store in Melbourne, Australian TV service 7News reported here., Below is a screenshot of the 7News report:, Bulk purchasing of baby formula for resale in China has prompted fears of a shortage in Australia since at least 2015, as reported here by AFP., Woolworths has imposed a two-unit-per-transaction restriction on its customers, while Coles customers can purchase up to four tins of formula milk per transaction., A keyword search on Google found an earlier version of the video published here\xa0on Facebook on April 10., The footage, which has been viewed more than 1.7\xa0million times as of April 17, is described in the post\xa0as being filmed at a Big W store. The caption states: "🚫Australia has had enough!🚫 After being told they had been in already and bought 4 tins after being seen at another shopping centre they still had the nerve to fight for the 4 tins!! Kudos Rod for standing up and to the staff at Big W for kicking them out!", The uploader commented on the Facebook post: “I filmed and uploaded this because we are all sick of not being able to purchase baby formula for our babies. I’m sick of hearing mums having to drive to multiple locations and visit different stores just to find formula. Especially when they should be in isolation like everyone else. What these people are doing is wrong and should be stopped. It should be illegal.”, Below is a screenshot of the comment:, , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
Myth spreads online that Australian supermarkets have banned Chinese nationals during COVID-19 pandemic | AFP Fact Check