Reporting restrictions have been lifted on the 17-year-old accused of killing three children in Southport, England on Monday — a decision made by the judge to prevent further false online speculation, which has so far led to huge riots in the town. The BBC looks into the role of social media has played in the case so far, and how the spread of misinformation and disinformation online can inflame pre-existing tensions in the real world.

BBC News

Southport attack: Did social media fan the flames of riot?

False accusations about the attacker followed a familiar pattern, the BBC's Marianna Spring finds.

#SocialMedia #Stockport #Riots #Tech

More than 100 venture capitalists have pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, pitting themselves against a small, but vocal, group of Trump-aligned tech execs driving an emerging narrative that Silicon Valley is leaning to the right. “They don’t speak for me… they don’t speak for most of us,” Leslie Feinzaig, founder of venture firm Graham & Walker, and an organizer of VCsForKamala, told the New York Times. Forbes has more on the billionaires pledging their support.

Forbes

New ‘VCs For Kamala’ Group Includes Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman And These Other Billionaires

The group formed, in part, to counter the narrative that tech executives backing Trump represent an industry-wide shift to the right.

#USPolitics #KamalaHarris #SiliconValley #Election2024 #Tech