The problem with this picture of French bikers 'protesting the burkini ban'

Following the shocking images of armed police officers forcing a woman to remove clothing on a beach in France this week, there has been an outpouring of criticism on social media.

People have been sharing cartoons, pictures of Catholic nuns on beaches and photos from the early 20th century to highlight the hypocrisy of the burkini ban.

One of the more striking images is of these two bikers lying on a beach in full leather gear:

It's been shared by various accounts on Twitter in the past few days

And retweeted thousands of times...

It's had love on Facebook too

It's been dubbed the 'motokini'

People think the bikers are making a political point

They love it

Sadly, it's not quite true

A quick reverse image search for the photo on Google shows that it was uploaded to this French motorcycling forum in 2014 and on FunnyJunk.com as far back as 2012.

As to what the bikers were actually doing, we have no idea.

More: After the burkini ban, people are asking if France can outlaw fat men in Speedos too

More: These two photos highlight society's double standards over what women wear

More: People are having a 'wear what you want' beach party protest outside the French embassy