.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
/
Stabbed bishop delivers first message from hospital as malicious
disinformation spreads
By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Updated:
9:27 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
The last time Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel addressed his parishioners he
was standing at the front of a church delivering an Assyrian bible
reading that was dramatically cut short by the dark shadow of an
alleged assailant armed with a knife.
From hospital on Thursday, after a traumatic week for the city of
Sydney, the injured bishop uttered his first words to followers in an
audio message posted to the – the same account that inadvertently
live-streamed the attack three days earlier.
“The Lord Jesus never said go out and fight in the street; never said
to retaliate, but to pray,” Emmanuel said, in an apparent reference
to the riot that erupted outside the church in the city’s western
suburbs as clips of the attack spread quickly online.
Monday night’s attack came just days after an unrelated knife
massacre in a Sydney shopping mall that claimed the lives of six people
and their attacker, who was shot dead by police.
Videos of both attacks circulated quickly online, leading to frenzied
speculation about the identity of the assailants, their religion and
motives – posing a challenge for Australian authorities.
The rapid spread of disinformation fomented an already volatile
situation and days later authorities, faith groups and the bishop are
still trying to calm community tension.
“In many instances, malicious information about damage to mosques and
churches was being spread like wildfire and inflaming tensions in the
community,” said New South Wales (NSW) State Premier Chris Minns on
Thursday.
“I’m still concerned about graphic, violent imagery being available
on public domain websites, major websites, 48 hours after the incident
had occurred.”
Attacker misidentified
On Tuesday, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner gave major social media
companies Meta and X 24 hours to take down the violent videos.
In a statement Thursday, the commissioner’s office said Meta –
which owns Facebook – had complied to its satisfaction, but work was
still being done to see if “further regulatory action” needed to be
taken against X, which could mean fines.
But regulators are finding it much harder to act against social media
platforms for the disinformation that spread online after the attacks
– especially after the mass stabbing in the eastern suburb of Bondi.
As police worked through the night on Saturday to gather evidence at
the upmarket shopping center where the attack took place, posts that
misidentified the attacker gathered pace online.
Marc Owen Jones, a disinformation researcher, detailed the on X,
pointing to the posts that alternately identified the attacker as
Jewish or Muslim – he was neither.
For several hours on Saturday night, a pro-Russia influencer helped
spread “unconfirmed” reports of the attacker’s name that
suggested he was Jewish. The rumors were picked up and amplified by
Seven, a major Australian TV news network that is now reportedly being
sued for defamation. Seven blamed the slip on “human error.”
Other posts suggested falsely Bondi was targeted because it has a large
Jewish population.
Both incorrect theories collapsed when NSW Police identified the
attacker as a 40-year-old man with mental health issues from the
neighboring state of Queensland, who had reportedly stopped taking his
medication.
“The narrative of ‘the attacker is either a Muslim or a Jew’
reflects the politicization of the Gaza war along pro-West versus
pro-Russia lines, and does nothing more than aggravate polarization.
But that’s the point I guess,” noted Jones, an associate professor
at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.
After the church attack, unconfirmed speculation also swirled about the
faith of the alleged attacker and his motive.
As the suspect is a child, his identity won’t be publicly released
under laws designed to protect youth offenders.
In his audio message – released to assure his supporters he’s
“doing fine” – the bishop extended his forgiveness to the
suspect, who was charged Thursday under Australia’s terrorism laws.
“Whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well,” the bishop
said.
Police allege the teenager traveled 90 minutes from his home to the
church, where he stabbed the bishop up to six times. The terror offense
carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
System of self-regulation
Right now, Australia has a voluntary code formed by the Digital
Industry Group Inc. or DIGI, a non-profit industry association, that
media platforms use to self-regulate disinformation and misinformation.
X has repeatedly breached the code and is no longer subject to it after
being removed as a signatory.
Since coming under the ownership of Elon Musk, the platform formerly
known as Twitter has imposed to guard against disinformation and
misinformation.
That’s put it on a collision course with regulators worldwide, and
last year it was reprimanded by authorities in Australia for removing a
function that would have allowed users to report suspect content during
a national referendum.
the government was committed to pushing through stronger legislation
this year on disinformation and misinformation.
That would include fines of 3 million Australian dollars ($1.9 million)
for an offense, and ongoing fines, as well as a percentage of turnover.
“We know that the revenues of some of these online platforms exceed
those of some nations. So, it needs to be a meaningful and substantial
penalty system that’s put in place,” Rowland said.
Next week, Australian academics will launch what’s being called a
“world-first” open-source platform to monitor regulations
worldwide.
Terry Flew, professor of Digital Communication and Culture at the
University of Sydney, said the will allow countries to learn from the
experience of others in a space where regulation is relatively new.
“It’s unfamiliar territory to most governments,” said Flew,
who’s leading the team behind the project. “The capacity to have a
resource that enables the relevant agencies in Australia to learn from
what’s happening in the US or the UK or the European Union is
important.”
He said it’s clear that a voluntary code isn’t enough.
“What has become apparent is that if a platform doesn’t want to
comply with that code, there’s very little that can be done,” he
said.
Late Thursday NSW Police issued a notice urging people not to share
unsubstantiated information. “Misinformation continues to spread
disharmony amongst the community,” the notice said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
DIR <- back to index