As the situation in London continues, the combination of both media coverage, and online reports have allowed people to keep track of the events, and be vigilant for it's possible effects on their own area. Thanks to micro-blogging sites like Twitter, people have been able to give first-hand accounts of the situation, as it happens, on a previously unimaginable level. However, this constant stream of information has had it's downside.
While keeping people informed has undoubtedly been useful in keeping people safe, a glut of misinformation has inflamed people's fears even further. As the rioting spread to other cities, the internet was buzzing about where would be next. Whispers and rumours spread rapidly, that the violence had reached other towns. While many areas were legitimately affected, several areas where claimed to have been hit by rioting, despite thankfully being spared. Similarly, people in Hackney were claiming they'd heard of people being shoved off of bikes to be violently mugged. However, police have said there'd been no evidence of such crimes actually happening.
Taking it even further were the people using fake pictures to cause panic. As seen above, photoshopped pictures of the London Eye on fire appeared online, along with photos of Big Ben, Westminster, and religious buildings. Despite the violence not reaching anywhere near the areas the aforementioned landmarks were located, many people took then at face value, raising worries. One of the most bizarre rumours invented was that looters had broken into London Zoo, and as a result a tiger was now roaming London. The accompanying photo of a tiger wandering in the streets was actually real, but from an entirely unrelated story in Italy, three years ago.
It's a shame that, which all the chaos and fear already on the ground, that others, entirely removed from the situation seek to compound the situation.
