this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
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The woman accused of being first to spread the fake rumours about the Southport killer which sparked nationwide riots has been arrested.

Racist riots spread across the country after misinformation spread on social media claiming the fatal stabbing was carried out by Ali Al-Shakati, believed to be a fictitious name, a Muslim aslyum seeker who was on an MI6 watchlist.

A 55-year-old woman from Chester has now been arrested on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred, and false communication. She remains in police custody.

While she has not been named in the police statement about the arrest, it is believed to be Bonnie Spofforth, a mother-of-three and the managing director of a clothing company.

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[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (18 children)

I appreciate the discussion. I knew this wouldn't be a popular take and almost deleted it before commenting.

Again, I think spreading lies on the internet is an appalling thing to do, but I just wanted to share my disbelief that someone could be arrested for it. Like, imagine if the cops showed up with handcuffs for everyone's grandparents for every racist email forward (or Facebook post) they shared.

I know it's tempting to want bad things to happen to people we don't like, but I think situations like this are a test of our ethics and values.

[–] TSG_Asmodeus@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Again, I think spreading lies on the internet is an appalling thing to do, but I just wanted to share my disbelief that someone could be arrested for it.

How is it really different from starting a white supremacy group and calling to 'expel immigrants' in posters around a city? The only difference from any other racist/terrorist action is that it was placed online. Do we really need to allow that to be okay?

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The only difference from any other racist/terrorist action is that it was placed online.

I'd consider another big difference that one was a tweet with misinformation and the other is a call to action to "expel" people. The tweet is appalling but hardly terrorism.

[–] SRo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

Why? It was obviously a lie to rile people up. Why shouldn't it be considered cyber terrorism?

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