Exclusive: Riots across England were sparked by fake claims on social media about the suspects background – we look at just how widely that misinformation was shared
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Posts sharing the false identity of the Southport stabbing suspect were viewed at least 420,000 times on social media, The Independent can reveal.
England was hit by a series of race riots in towns and cities after wrong information was shared online following the killing of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on 29 July. The suspect was eventually named as Axel Rudakubana, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, after a judge ruled the 17 year-old’s identity could be revealed.
But before that, thousands of posts appeared on multiple social media platforms spreading a false name and background of the killer: Ali Al-Shakati, an asylum seeker of Muslim faith who was said to have come to the UK by boat last year.
The fake name would go on to have an astounding potential reach of 1.7 billion people; that figure made up of the number of followers and/or page likes where the keyword appeared.
Social media data analysed by Hootsuite, the social media performance engine, shows that the false information was shared in at least 4,776...
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