Canada comes for Fox News over its false Quebec mosque tweet
Fox News has been scolded by the Canadian government after it told more than 13 million Twitter followers the deadly mosque attack in Quebec Monday had been committed by a person "of Moroccan origin."
On Tuesday, Kate Purchase, director of communications for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told Twitter she'd emailed Fox asking it to remove the "false and misleading" tweet, sharing screenshots of the message to the news organisation.
While some early media reports mistakenly claimed the suspect was of Moroccan background and that there were two gunman, most have since corrected the record.
Fox's post featured an image of Trudeau, along with a quote: "We condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge." The tweet, shared Monday, was still up Tuesday evening but has since been deleted following Purchase's message.
The suspect, Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, is French Canadian. The university student has now been charged with murder and attempted murder for the massacre, which left six people dead and wounded at least 19.
A fan of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to reports, Bissonnette is described as someone who shared "extreme nationalist views."
"These tweets by Fox News dishonour the memory of the six victims and their families by spreading misinformation," Purchase wrote in the shared email, "spreading fear and division within our communities."
"If we allow individuals and organizations to succeed by scaring people, we do not actually end up any safer. Fear does not make us safer. It makes us weaker."
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Here's her statement in full:
It has come to my attention that a Fox News tweet posted on Twitter at 12:31pm, January 30, 2017, contains false and misleading language relating to the identity of the suspect in the Quebec mosque terror attack. I have attached a copy of the tweet for your reference.
Over the course of the day, this proved to be false information. In fact, the suspect was identified as a 27 year old French Canadian – not someone of Moroccan-origin.
Sadly, this misleading information has been left to stand on the Fox News Channel’s twitter account and continued to circulate online even now.
Canada is an open, welcoming country that stands by its citizens. We are a nation of millions of immigrants and refugees, of hundreds of cultures, languages, and religions bound by one, unwavering, unshakable belief: we are stronger not in spite of our differences, but because of them.
These tweets by Fox News dishonour the memory of the six victims and their families by spreading misinformation, playing identity politics, and perpetuating fear and division within our communities.
We need to remain focused on keeping our communities safe and united instead of trying to build walls and scapegoat communities. Muslims are predominantly the greatest victims of terrorist acts around the world. To paint terrorists with a broad brush that extends to all Muslims is not just ignorant – it is irresponsible.
If we allow individuals and organizations to succeed by scaring people, we do not actually end up any safer. Fear does not make us safer. It makes us weaker. Ramping up fear and closing our borders is not a solution. It distracts from the real issues that affect people’s day to day life.
For all of these reasons, we ask that Fox News either retract or update the tweet to reflect the suspect’s actual identity.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.
Kate Purchase
Director of Communications
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
Purchase later thanked Fox News after it deleted the tweet Tuesday evening.
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Fox News said it regretted "the error."
"FoxNews.com initially corrected the misreported information with a tweet and an update to the story on Monday," a spokesperson told Mashable. "The earlier tweets have now been deleted."
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
UPDATE: Feb. 1, 2017, 11:52 a.m. AEDT Updated to reflect that Fox News has deleted the tweet.
UPDATE: Feb. 1, 2017, 6:07 p.m. AEDT Updated with comment from Fox News.
Topics Social Media
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
