False Muslim identity of Southport suspect seen 420,000 times, data shows

Posts sharing the false identity of the Southport stabbing suspect were viewed at least 420,000 times on social media, The Independent can reveal.

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

England was hit by a series of race riots in towns and cities after wrong information was shared online following the killing of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on 29 July. The suspect was eventually named as Axel Rudakubana, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, after a judge ruled the 17-year-old's identity could be revealed.

But before that, thousands of posts appeared on multiple social media platforms spreading a false name and background of the killer: Ali Al-Shakati, an asylum seeker of Muslim faith who was said to have come to the UK by boat last year.

The fake name would go on to have an astounding potential reach of 1.7 billion people; that figure made up of the number of followers and/or page likes where the keyword appeared.

Social media data analysed by Hootsuite, the social media performance engine, shows that the false information was shared in at least 4,776 posts across X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Quora and Reddit.

The posts mentioning the false name were engaged at least 91,150 times (likes, shares, quotes), and videos with the name were watched more than 330,000 times, according to Hootsuite. There were more than 2,632 posts mentioning Ali Al-Shakati on the day of the stabbing alone. The false identity has been shared in posts by some 3,000 accounts across social media platforms since.