How Russians spread vile lie about Muslim in terror bridge photo
A TWITTER account wrongly accusing a Muslim woman of ‘casually’ walking past a Westminster terror attack victim was Russian propaganda.
The misleading picture and message, under the Twitter handle South Lone Star, went viral and sparked a racist backlash against the woman.
But it has now emerged that it was one of a series of Kremlin-backed accounts which also posted a number of anti-immigration and pro-Brexit messages around the time of the referendum.
The photgraph of the woman in a hijab was taken in March after Khalid Masood killed four people and injured dozens more when he used a Hyundai 4x4 to mount the pavement on Westminster Bridge.
He then stabbed police officer Keith Palmer, a married husband and father, to death outside Parliament before being shot dead by an officer.
The user @SouthLoneStar, claimed to be a ‘Proud TEXAN and AMERICAN patriot’ and posted the image of the woman walking next to a victim of the atrocity.
It had the message: ‘Muslim woman pays no mind to the terror attack, casually walks by a dying man while checking phone #PrayForLondon #Westminster #BanIslam’.
It sparked a backlash against the woman until the photographer, Jamie Lorriman, revealed that the image had been taken out of context.
Months after the terror attack, the account also tweeted: ‘I hope UK after #BrexitVote will start to clean their land from Muslim invasion!’
But it has now been revealed as a Russian bot – automated software that controls a Twitter account – in a list published by American Democrats, prompting Twitter to shut the account down, according to the US technology magazine Wired.
It was one of many accounts identified as Kremlin linked, which were mainly focused on US politics – but they have now all reportedly been suspended by Twitter. It comes as MPs are beginning to prepare an inquiry into Russian interference in Brit- ish politics and both Twitter and Facebook have been asked to give evidence.
Damian Collins, head of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee which is leading the inquiry, told the magazine that it showed Russian accounts were trying to ‘influence political debate in the UK and also to incite hatred and turn communities against each other’. He added: ‘I think it shows that Russian-controlled accounts have been politically active in the UK as well as America. This could just be the tip of the iceberg.’
The Muslim woman, who has not been identified, was forced to defend herself after the tweet. Speaking to Tell MAMA, which supports victims of anti-Muslim hate, she said: ‘I’m shocked and totally dismayed at how a picture of me is being circulated on social media. What the image does not show is that I had talked to other witnesses to try and find out what was happening, to see if I could be of any help, even though enough people were at the scene tending to the victims.
‘I then decided to call my family to say that I was fine and was making my way home from work, assisting a lady along the way by helping her get to Waterloo station.’
‘Turn communities against each other’