Corbyn-backers spread ‘fake news’ about blaze toll
IN THE immediate aftermath of almost every major tragedy, conspiracy theories take root to fill the void left by the absence of hard facts.
The Grenfell Tower disaster was no exception, as claims of a cover-up about the real death toll went viral on social media yesterday.
Tension among residents was ramped up by suggestions that the Government had gagged the media in an attempt to manage public anger about the inferno.
The claims – all of them completely false – were spread by far-left supporters of Jeremy Corbyn including pop stars and socialist blogs.
They could now be examined by MPS as part of an ongoing parliamentary inquiry into “fake news”.
A Corbyn-backing blog called Skwawkbox claimed the Government had banned the media from reporting the true death toll in the tragedy for reasons of “national security”.
It claimed that “multiple sources” had confirmed that “the Government has placed a D-notice on the real number of deaths in the blaze”.
A D-notice, properly called a Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice, is an official request to editors not to publish items that could endanger lives or national security, but no such notice was issued.
Nevertheless, the false story was promoted on Twitter by Skwawkbox and then picked up by two other Corbyn-supporting sites, Evolvepolitics and Novara Media. Within hours the claim had been shared on social media and was being treated as evidence of a government cover-up.
Skwawkbox claimed it had received reports “about intimidation of locals to prevent disclosure or speculation about the true known death toll”.
It went on: “Is the Tory government inflating its own party interests into a national security issue in order to control the flow of information that will
damage the Tory government and party, allowing it to “drip-feed” a slow increase in the number of confirmed deaths to manage public outrage?”
In truth, neither the Government nor the London Fire Brigade yet knows the final number of those who have died because of the danger and difficulty of accessing the top floors of the building, where most of the bodies are likely to be located. Around 70 people are currently missing, likely to include the 30 now known to have died.
The first accusations of a cover-up were made by the singer Lily Allen, a cheerleader for Mr Corbyn, who told Thursday evening’s Channel 4 News that the death toll was being “downplayed by the mainstream media” and it was much closer to 150.
Earlier this year the Commons culture, media and sport committee launched a parliamentary inquiry into so-called “fake news”.
Damian Collins, the committee’s chairman before the election, said it “was really important we look at where that is coming from and who is doing it”. He added: “Unfortunately fake news is used to exploit situations by unscrupulous people.”