Photo of Eiffel Tower with lights off dates back to 2021 | Fact check

A July 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows the Eiffel Tower with its lights off at night.
“Reports are some areas in Paris lost power!” reads the post’s caption. “This was the Eiffel tower and surrounding area!”
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in four days. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Threads and X, formerly Twitter.
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The photo is from March 2021, when the Eiffel Tower shut off its lights as part of a climate awareness campaign.
The image of the Eiffel Tower with its lights off was not captured in July during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It was taken by an AFP photographer more than three years prior, on March 27, 2021. The picture shows the Eiffel Tower after its lights were shut off as part of the Earth Hour environmental campaign, according to its caption on Getty Images.
The campaign involves individuals across the globe shutting off their lights for an hour to show support for the planet and raise awareness about climate change.
The photo was published in several news articles at the time alongside pictures of other participating landmarks, such as the Acropolis in Greece and the Brandenburg Gate in Germany. The Eiffel Tower also had its lights turned off as part of the initiative in 2022 and2024.
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The French electric company Enedis told French news outlet Actu.fr that on the evening of July 27, a network incident caused a power outage for nearly 85,000 customers spanning four arrondissements, or municipal districts. The company said the power was restored after 10 minutes.
Enedis reiterated this information in a July 28 X post.
The Eiffel Tower is not located in any of the four districts that were affected by the outage.
USA TODAY reached out to the Eiffel Tower’s press office but did not immediately receive a response. The user who shared the post failed to provide evidence of the claim.
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