A dad in Lahore, a hockey player from Nova Scotia, and a man named Kevin from Houston are all connected to Channel3Now, a website that falsely named the 17-year-old involved in the Southport attack. BBC reports that Channel3Now incorrectly claimed the attacker was an asylum seeker who arrived by boat and was a Muslim. These false claims have been blamed for fueling riots in the UK, targeting mosques and Muslim communities.
BBC traced the people linked to Channel3Now, confirming they are real individuals. The site appears to be a commercial operation aiming to make money by aggregating crime news and sharing it on social media. There is no evidence linking Channel3Now’s misinformation to the Russian state, despite some claims.
Kevin from Houston, who claims to be from Channel3Now’s management, said the false information was an error, not intentional. He mentioned that over 30 people work for the site from the US, UK, Pakistan, and India. The website later apologized for the false story.
James, an amateur hockey player from Nova Scotia, and Farhan, a journalist from Pakistan, were identified as contributors to Channel3Now. BBC’s investigation confirmed their identities through friends and social media profiles. Kevin insisted neither James nor Farhan was involved in the false Southport story, blaming the “UK-based team” instead.
Channel3Now was accused of having Russian links due to old videos on its YouTube channel, but Kevin explained that they purchased the channel from a Russian seller. BBC found no evidence of Russian affiliation but noted that pro-Kremlin Telegram channels had shared Channel3Now’s false posts.
The false claims from Channel3Now were amplified by social media accounts in the UK and US known for spreading misinformation. This led to riots and over 400 arrests.
BBC highlighted how some profiles on X (formerly Twitter) made money by spreading these false stories, thanks to changes implemented by Elon Musk. These profiles, many with blue ticks, gained millions of views and earned ad revenue from their posts.
Bernadette Spofforth, a social media user accused of initially posting the false name, denied creating the information and said she deleted the post once she knew it was false. She expressed regret over the violence and emphasized she wasn’t motivated by money.
The spread of misinformation on social media, as seen in this case, remains challenging to control. Politicians have called for stricter measures, but the UK’s Online Safety Bill doesn’t currently address disinformation.
BBC concludes that the responsibility to tackle such content lies with social media companies, which often struggle to regulate content from users based abroad.
X did not respond to BBC’s request for comment.
Credit : BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y38gjp4ygo