Kevin Maguire: "If you're put up in a hotel & you get meals you get £10/wk.. all these terrible myths.. free iPads.. myths & lies have gone mainstream & we've got to challenge them.. we've gone back to the worst aspects of the 1970s where racism is becoming mainstream"
Well said
This is how disinformation spreads:
In Scotland, a 12-year-old girl has been charged with possession of an axe and a kitchen knife after confronting a married Bulgarian couple on the street. The man, who filmed the incident, is a Bulgarian Christian living legally in Scotland and was walking to the shops with his wife when the girl approached them.
Police confirmed there will be no charges against the man, and CCTV footage exists showing what happened. Despite this, clips posted online have sparked false claims, including unsubstantiated allegations of attempted sexual assault.
The story gained global traction when Elon and Tommy Robinson shared the footage on X. The police has emphasized that the only charge relates to the girl and urged people not to spread misinformation.
Now, the story is being aggressively pushed by Indian engagement farms under slogans like “save Europa,” showing how online disinformation networks exploit local incidents to fuel polarizing narratives — and possibly to make some money in the process.
@basilthegreat Depends on your algorithm. Mine is full of people ridiculing flagshaggers and outing this kind of shit as what it is, 1930s Germany style xenophobia and racism.
Left: Rylan, "If I arrive on a boat in Calais, I get taken to a four star hotel"
Right: Newsnight show what one of these four star hotels looks like once it has been adapted to house four asylum seekers in a single room with two bunkbeds and a tacky divider
Dear @Rylan some of your concern is perfectly normal and valid, and with 70,000 spaces in asylum accommodation oversubscribed because the Conservatives cut funding to assessing asylum seeker claims resulting in setting up hotels to house asylum seekers, awarding some contracts well over £1 billion to hotel owners, some of who have also been donors to the Conservative party, the whole thing stinks
But what's worse is that you've repeated some mistruths and false statements about asylum seekers in your rant, and while I don't blame you for having expressed those views as Keir-island-of-strangers-Starmer, instead of challenging and correcting these falsehoods, has decided to become a pound shop Reform-like populist with his divisive rhetoric, who could blame you for being so misinformed?
I encourage you to seek better information, better explanations, and perhaps if it really bothers you, to use your huge reach and platform to petition our government to do better eg ending homelessness
Remember how at the start of covid we managed to end homelessness within a few days? Not only is it possible but it's simply a question of government policy (in fairness to Labour they are doing quite a lot, just not enough and not at the speed they could be doing it)
But, and I say this politely. Reform UK are not your friends. By wanting to take us out of the European Convention of Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act, they're taking away the very institutions that helped shape gay rights in our country and allowed you not only to flourish, but simply have the right to live your life however you wish - the moment those protections and rights are lost, society suffers
There's nothing worse than getting angry and upset at incorrect things e.g. the four star hotel trope often levied by the far right
Instead, become better informed, so you can get angry and upset at the actual things that are wrong with the system, and help campaign to change them