|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2024 12:24:48 GMT
 Violent scenes that erupted across England in the wake of a fatal knife attack on children in northern England were fueled by disinformation propagated by a website linked to Russia, the U.K.’s Daily Mail has reported. The attack at a dance class left three children dead and eight wounded, five of them critically, with two adults also on the critical list. Far-right demonstrators stormed a local mosque the following day in violent scenes that left 53 police officers wounded. The Daily Mail wrote on Thursday that its investigations had revealed the trouble started after disinformation “spread like wildfire” on social media that the culprit was an asylum seeker named Ali Al-Shakati who had arrived in the U.K. on a migrant boat. A fake news site linked to Russia fanned the flames, also claiming that the perpetrator was on an MI6 watchlist and known to local mental health services. The Mail reported that the Channel3 Now social media account, which it said masquerades as a U.S. news site but in fact hails from Russia, published an inflammatory post on the X platform that was viewed two million times before being deleted. The false information was further perpetrated by Russian state media and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as well as by controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate who told his 10 million followers that an “illegal immigrant” had stabbed “six little girls” and urged his followers to “wake up.” The Mail reported that “in June last year, Channel3 Now set up its website, which has been accused of sharing 'racially motivated click-bait'.” On Wednesday, Channel3 Now issued an apology on X for having published “misleading information.” |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2024 12:33:53 GMT
The initial asylum seeker claim was picked up by a number of prominent far-right and anti-immigrant accounts on X, where it was seen millions of times.
Outlets including Russia’s RT news channel (a Kremlin-backed outlet which has been banned in Europe) also reported the claim as fact, citing Channel3 Now’s post, and the claim eventually made it into Irish groups on Facebook the messaging app Telegram.
Many of those who repeated the claim leaned into racist tropes about asylum seekers and foreign people.
Some suggested that the attacker was a Muslim terrorist who carried out the attack because they hated Western values; others xenophobically said that the individual was an example why people from abroad present a danger to women and children – a claim often heard by those with hardline views on immigration, despite it having no basis.
One post on Telegram by The Irish Inquiry, a self-described “news/media company” that regularly spreads misinformation about everything from vaccines to asylum seekers, also referenced the Channel3 Now post (though it not directly cite the source of its claim).
“Online unverified social media posts have claimed that the person responsible for stabbing 8 little girls today is an asylum seeker,” the Telegram post began.
It referenced the same false claims that the suspect was on an MI5 watchlist and also raised questions about his religion and background.
“It has not been reported what his religious background may have been. If he turns out not to be from Wales, it would be interesting to see what proof they have of his age,” the post continued.”
The post then referenced a claim made by anti-immigrant figures in the UK that a significant number of male asylum seekers arriving in the UK were pretending to be children, though Home Office data last year found it to be around 1% of applicants.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 3, 2024 19:26:59 GMT
Anti-immigration protesters were seen throwing bottles and scuffling with police officers in cities across the UK.
In Hull, protesters chanted "stop the boats" outside a hotel which houses asylum seekers. A plume of black smoke was seen in the city after cars were on fire.
In Leeds, police officers kept rival protesters apart during a peaceful demonstration.
The unrest began earlier in the week following misinformation surrounding the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport on Monday.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 4, 2024 2:24:57 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 4, 2024 2:33:48 GMT
|
|
