Did the University of Juba display this poster?

The above image of a poster with the phrase “PRIVATE PROPERTY “Warning Trespassers will be Prostituted” is taking social media by storm.

In the wake of an ongoing land dispute around the University of Juba in South Sudan, some social media users are claiming that the administration of the aforementioned institution placed the poster as a warning sign to land barons who are on a forceful land acquisition spree in the area surrounding the university.

However, after a verification exercise by City Review, the finding shows that the image was not taken from the University of Juba and neither was it taken from South Sudan.

A thorough analysis of 40 copies of the same image served by Google Images reveals that the file was first posted on 9GAG on 17th August 2020. That was long before the recent and ongoing land-related skirmishes surrounding the University of Juba.

Analysis by Pic2Map, a photo location, and online EXIF data viewer, returns no data. This could basically be for two reasons; either the image was altered or the Global Position System (GSP) feature of the camera of the device used was not enabled.

About 9GAG website

According to WHOIS.com, the domain of 9GAG was registered on 12th July 2008 by Domain Protection Service, an America-based domain registrar.

However, 9GAG is a fully-fledged online platform and social media website with a large user base in Hong Kong.
The website allows users to upload and share user-generated content or content from external social media sites like Reddit.

It is also noteworthy that Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, an Asian country where English is a second language. Chances are that this image originated from Hong Kong.

But what is certain is that the image was not taken from South Sudan and in particular the University of Juba despite the prevailing land dispute around it.