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“The crowd should disperse immediately as force is about to be used against violent individuals. No further warnings will be given.”
Simmering tensions have erupted in the United Kingdom after false rumors spread online that the young man accused of fatally stabbing three girls during a dance class was a Muslim and an immigrant.
Police said many of these actions were organized by shadowy far-right groups, who mobilize support online.
Steve Rotheram, Metropolitan Mayor of the Liverpool region, agrees.
“On Tuesday there were definitely people on buses from all over the country because we know that because we’ve seen the travel patterns. It was more local young people excited by social media, by this communication from all over the world. world, ‘Let’s get together’ and all that, thinking it was a bit of fun and deliberately trying to stir up some sort of crime in this area. And, you know, I’ve been an MP for this region and I’m very, very supportive of this region. people and communities, but it was the community that inflicted misery on the community.
Marc Owen Jones is an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar.
It explains how misinformation begins and spreads.
“What you do is you have low-level, low-followed, anonymous accounts that look like regular people who start asking questions…and then respond to more influential accounts. The idea here is to create a level of gossip or chatter and then hope that the chatter breaks out.”
Disinformation is defined as false information intended to mislead and influence public opinion for malicious purposes.
Once it spreads, it is almost impossible to slow down or control it in a digitally connected world.
Professor Terry Flews from the University of Sydney explains.
“It’s difficult because there is no complete picture of what we call the Internet… Let’s say Chinese-language content circulates through WeChat, it will only really come to the attention of the Chinese-speaking community.
The misinformation was not limited to this incident.
This week, the UN also pointed the finger at fossil fuel companies, accusing them of waging a massive disinformation campaign to get countries to slow down the adoption of renewable energy.
Tackling this problem depends on governments and businesses working together.
So far, few governments have succeeded in this.
In Australia, the federal government still hopes to introduce a disinformation bill this year.
The professor says calls are also growing to make social media companies more accountable – but that’s easier said than done.
“Now, if businesses feel no social obligation of this nature… It will become much more difficult for governments to act in this area.”
It is believed that there are hundreds of millions of fake accounts and bots on social media platforms at any given time.
And with almost half the world’s population expected to vote in this year’s elections, the risk of interference is also high.
New analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate suggests that posts from X owner Elon Musk, containing misleading claims about this year’s US elections, have been viewed 1.2 billion times.
“There has been a return to a sort of Cold War propaganda politics around the world, where nation-state actors are willing to intercede in social media environments not only to promote their own interests but also to promote specific programs.”
