A website that fuelled lies about the stabbing attacks in Southport has links to Russia, it has been revealed.
False claims had circulated online that the suspect was named Ali Al-Shakati - a name that translates from Arabic to "On Checks" - and arrived in the UK on a small boat and was "on the MI6 watchlist".
The incorrect claims were further highlighted by social media account Channel3 Now, which poses as an American news website and whose inflammatory post was viewed by nearly two million people before being deleted.
Russian state media, hard-right activist Tommy Robinson, and self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate all retweeted and echoed the claims.
Protests broke out across the UK following the attack in Southport
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Director of the thinktank British Future, Sunder Katwala said a fake news channel seemed to have invented a fake name and run a false story.
Katwala said the "pace" with which misinformation was spreading after the incident "presents important challenges to social media platforms and ultimately for policymakers as regulators and lawmakers if platforms cannot respond."
He said: "There are different types of bad faith actor spreading misinformation at pace in heightened circumstances. There may be low quality feeds masquerading as news sites, even scraping social media rumours to produce AI-generated content.
“There can be more deliberate networks of extreme actors, including far right groups and foreign intelligence actors. The platforms will struggle to get everything right in real time. But it matters as to whether they have the will and capacity to respond to the most serious threats, such as those breaching legal constraints and injunctions and those using heightened moments with the intent of socialising people towards extremism and violence.
"There are strong signs of a significant deterioration in both the intent and capacity of X under Elon Musk’s ownership."
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Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana
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Daily Mail reports that Channel3 Now, which claims to be based in the US but has paid for high-end privacy protections, started life 11 years ago as a Russian YouTube channel that posted videos of rally-driving in the snow in Izhevsk, a Russian city about 750 miles east of Moscow.
Last night, Channel3 Now posted an apology on its website for spreading incorrect details about the attack. It said it had "made sure that the team responsible for publishing this news is fired."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned against "speculating or commenting" on the criminal investigation into the stabbing.
When asked whether she could provide more information, including whether the suspect was known to authorities, she said: "Merseyside Police are leading this extremely important and serious criminal investigation. This was a horrific attack and they need to be able to get on with that work, and they will provide us with updates."
Axel Rudakubana from Banks in Lancashire has been charged with the murder of three girls in a knife attack. The 17-year-old, who lived with his Rwandan parents and has a brother, 20, is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on Monday.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
The defendant left Liverpool Crown Court in a police convoy to jeers from a small crowd that had gathered in the street. A number of people shouted “f****** s***bag” as the prison van pulled out of the complex, with a number of police vehicles escorting.
More than 30 police officers lined the edges of pavement as the convoy left and others stopped the traffic on the main road past Liverpool’s docks.
