A local blogger has taken to social media to debunk much of the misinformation surrounding the recent race-related public disorder in Belfast and across England.
The TikToker, Sara Sweeney, who posts under the handle ‘Saraa’, has had tens of thousands of views on her straight-to-the point video, entitled, ‘Mythbusters’ – where she makes the comment, “You’re smarter than this. Come on.”
@saraesweeney69 Youre smarter than this. Come on
Starting her monologue, Saraa politely explains the difference between asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
She then moves on to debunk the story that immigrants are “taking over” She says: “There are 3000 asylum seekers in Northern Ireland in a population of 1.9 million – that is not a take over!”
There have been five nights of race related rioting in Belfast with numerous arrests for race hate crimes.
Several people have already been put before the courts for crimes such a riotous assembly, stemming from the unrest.
And with more protests planned for the weekend, police are braced for more disturbances.
Misinformation online is said to have fuelled the anger behind the recent trouble.
Hours after the murders of three young girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, in Southport on 29 July – fake news about the attacker began to circulate on platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter.
And, as the misinformation spread, so did the increased levels of anger.
It was falsely claimed the alleged killer had arrived in the country on a dinghy in 2023. Others posted that he was a Muslim, and a fake name also circulated.
Merseyside Police later confirmed he was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and had no known links to Islam.
However, for many, the confirmation seemed to come too late, and riots had already started – with online anti-immigration groups springing up online.
In Saraa’s video she tackles a number of the myths that have sprung up about immigrants and asylum seekers.
She refutes the claims that foreign born people are “taking up NHS appointments,” stating instead that a lack of available appointments is due to government cuts.
She said it is a similar story when it comes to benefits like Universal Credit – which she says asylum seekers are not entitled to.
While Saraa’s video has received much support, with people commenting that she is “entirely correct,” a few posters expressed their disappointment that the government doesn’t do more to house local homeless people.