The Garda media approach that identified the ethnicity of the man involved in the shooting incident in Carlow likely stopped a spiral of online misinformation developing into a real-world protest.
In a highly unusual move, just hours after events at Fairgreen Shopping Centre on June 1st, the Garda press office released a statement saying the man was “a white Irish national in his 20s”.
The lengthy press release also noted that “a young girl, in the shopping centre with her parents, suffered a minor leg injury when she fell while running from the scene” and that “No member of An Garda Síochána discharged a weapon”.
Each fact countered misinformation flooding social media which suggested the gunman was an asylum seeker or a terrorist, that a boy was shot, that there had been a “mass shooting” and “that the gunman was gunned down by armed gardaí”.
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One tweet seen by nearly six million people reported “Today’s Shopping Mall Massacre, which saw a 9-year-old girl shot by a man who had explosives strapped to his body, has enraged the General Public”.
Later, details emerged that Evan Fitzgerald (22) had fired a weapon in the shopping centre before turning the gun on himself.
By quickly expanding on the facts, the Garda effectively pushed back against the onslaught of fake news that had appeared even before the crime scene tape was in place.
Asked why it went into such detail about the injured child, the press office said it was aware of commentary that a child had been taken to hospital “with the clear implication being that a child had been shot and may die”.
Typically, Garda press releases in the immediate aftermath of an event give just bare-bones details.
The assailant’s gender might be given, a rough idea of age and in some cases, additional, though vague, information such as “known to the victim”.
It’s up to crime reporters at the scene or using their contacts to fill in the details to feed the 24-hour news cycle that won’t wait for official statements. Journalists routinely confirm their findings with the Garda before reporting them.
Reasons for the scant detail range from an urge to protect families involved to legal restrictions.
Identifying ethnicity is a highly unusual move by the Garda, but it’s not without precedent, and it is being done on a case-by-case basis.
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In the past year, the force has issued nine misinformation notices via social media or press release. Most were to indicate that, despite some social media commentary, the individuals involved in an alleged crime were Irish citizens and not connected to individuals in the international protection system.
The past year, says the Garda, has been marked by “a significant rise in misinformation and disinformation that has falsely linked serious crimes to immigrants. In some instances, this had directly led to violent public gatherings”. (Misinformation refers to false or incorrect information, disinformation is deliberately designed to mislead.)
And following a week of violence, it’s something the people of Ballymena know all about.
The ongoing pubic disorder in the Co Antrim town – on a scale not seen since the worst years of the Troubles – has been fuelled by online commentary that began last Monday with speculation about an alleged sexual attack in the town. By the end of the week, there had been wave after wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric, including advocating violence against specific ethnic groups.
On Monday, two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with attempted rape of a teenage girl in the town at the weekend; news media reported that they required a Romanian interpreter.
The usual anti-immigrant tropes quickly appeared and were amplified on all social media platforms, about the streets not being safe for women and children and inflating immigration figures.
One Facebook group, with more than 5,000 followers, urged people to share addresses of “locals” they wanted to protect – and of those they wanted to target.
Scenes of rioting and burned-out houses – by Friday, 14 migrant families had been forced to leave their homes – were shared and reposted while misinformation about the alleged sexual attack spread. One TikTok post claimed “a granny and a child had been raped”.
The posts came from Irish accounts, including those that are typically most active in the South, protesting about refugee housing and newcomer numbers, but also from British far-right accounts.
Events in Ballymena moved fast and quickly went far beyond anything that could be calmed by a carefully worded press statement.
After a week of street violence, more than 60 members of the PSNI had been injured, and the force’s range of anti-riot equipment had been deployed.
On Sunday, a 32-year-old man in the Larne area was arrested by police investigating online posts relating to public disorder.
That real-world consequence of an arrest might prove a deterrent for some, but given the proliferation of anonymous social-media accounts and the sheer volume of posts, it’s not a realistic way to stamp it out.
And that’s where the social-media giants have the real part to play, though in practice, that seems far off too.
Asked to comment on the torrent of online misinformation following the Carlow shooting, Taoiseach Micheál Martin defended moves to regulate internet misinformation. Such moves are in train, but the social media owners, who all would claim that they work hard at stamping out misinformation, are not going to easily accept regulation.
A legal challenge brought by Elon Musk’s social network platform against the online safety code introduced by the Republic’s media regulator is under way. X alleges in High Court proceedings that Coimisiún na Meán engaged in “regulatory overreach” in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. Coimisiún na Meán is contesting the case.
The company contends that the new online safety code contradicts Irish law requirements for protecting and balancing fundamental rights, particularly freedom of expression.
