WhatsApp and the Wakeley riot: how a messaging platform became a fake news broadcaster

Police at the Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley, where a riot that broke out after an alleged stabbing attack.Police at the Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley, where a riot that broke out after an alleged stabbing attack.

“People were sending things almost as it was being shot and it going around many groups. You couldn’t really filter it out because of the speed at which it was coming through.” “We just kept receiving things all night, and my son’s work mates almost immediately said they were going down ,” Laila said. “It was literally minutes after. It was so quick.”Videos that were circulating at about 8.30pm show huge crowds gathering in the streets surrounding the church and a mob trying to enter.Videos of violence began circulating soon after, with clips showing damaged police cars and violence near the church just after 9pm.

Fadi said what stood out to him throughout the night was the breadth of unverified claims that were flooding his group chats. By 9.25pm, a wrong name that had been circulating linked to the alleged attacker was also being debunked via a screenshot of an apparent Facebook post where a man denied it was him.

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