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| Boston 'witchhunt' on social media sites – and a bad week for the old guard | Boston 'witchhunt' on social media sites – and a bad week for the old guard |
| (17 days later) | |
| As the Boston marathon wound down on the Monday afternoon, a Twitter user with the handle @DeLoBarstool posted a brief tweet: "Uhh explosions in Boston" – the first online record that can be found of the two bombs that went off near the race's finish line, killing three people, injuring 170 more and sparking a dramatic city-wide manhunt watched around the world. | As the Boston marathon wound down on the Monday afternoon, a Twitter user with the handle @DeLoBarstool posted a brief tweet: "Uhh explosions in Boston" – the first online record that can be found of the two bombs that went off near the race's finish line, killing three people, injuring 170 more and sparking a dramatic city-wide manhunt watched around the world. |
| DeLo – whose Twitter profile carries an image of what appears to be a Smurf duelling with Darth Vader – might not have been the most credible source, but it appears he was the first in the city to report it. And unlike many of those who were to follow, he at least got the facts right – in contrast to breathless reporting from some of the most heralded parts of the US media, including CNN and the Associated Press. | DeLo – whose Twitter profile carries an image of what appears to be a Smurf duelling with Darth Vader – might not have been the most credible source, but it appears he was the first in the city to report it. And unlike many of those who were to follow, he at least got the facts right – in contrast to breathless reporting from some of the most heralded parts of the US media, including CNN and the Associated Press. |
| As the tension drains from last week's events, the postmortems are less about the tired comparisons of "old versus new" media and more an examination of the online tools now available to the media, police and members of the public, and how they interact and influence each other in real time. | As the tension drains from last week's events, the postmortems are less about the tired comparisons of "old versus new" media and more an examination of the online tools now available to the media, police and members of the public, and how they interact and influence each other in real time. |
| One crucial question is whether the whip-like response of social media and its unlimited appetite for content after an event such as Boston causes the established media to struggle to stay relevant by publishing half-baked snippets and worsening the industry's natural reflex to want to be first with the news. | One crucial question is whether the whip-like response of social media and its unlimited appetite for content after an event such as Boston causes the established media to struggle to stay relevant by publishing half-baked snippets and worsening the industry's natural reflex to want to be first with the news. |
| The other is whether the virtual manhunt conducted online, by users of social media sites such as Twitter, Reddit or 4Chan, helped or hindered the actual manhunt taking place in the streets around Boston – and exposed innocent individuals to danger. | The other is whether the virtual manhunt conducted online, by users of social media sites such as Twitter, Reddit or 4Chan, helped or hindered the actual manhunt taking place in the streets around Boston – and exposed innocent individuals to danger. |
| While some users of Reddit – the social media community owned by Condé Nast's holding firm, Advance – used the site to offer support, exchange information and speculate in the days after the deadly explosions, others conducted what Wired magazine described as a "witchhunt" – for which one of the site's founders apologised last night. | While some users of Reddit – the social media community owned by Condé Nast's holding firm, Advance – used the site to offer support, exchange information and speculate in the days after the deadly explosions, others conducted what Wired magazine described as a "witchhunt" – for which one of the site's founders apologised last night. |
| "Though it started with noble intentions, some of the activity on Reddit fuelled online witchhunts and dangerous speculation, which spiralled into very negative consequences for innocent parties," Reddit's general manager, Erik Martin, known online as hueypriest, wrote in an unusual mea culpa on the site. | "Though it started with noble intentions, some of the activity on Reddit fuelled online witchhunts and dangerous speculation, which spiralled into very negative consequences for innocent parties," Reddit's general manager, Erik Martin, known online as hueypriest, wrote in an unusual mea culpa on the site. |
| "The Reddit staff and the millions of people on Reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened." | "The Reddit staff and the millions of people on Reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened." |
| Even the White House was paying attention to the cacophony last week, with President Barack Obama telling the US on Friday, following the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: "In this age of instant reporting, tweets and blogs, there's a temptation to latch on to any bit of information, sometimes to jump to conclusions. But when a tragedy like this happens, with public safety at risk and the stakes so high, it's important we do this right." | Even the White House was paying attention to the cacophony last week, with President Barack Obama telling the US on Friday, following the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: "In this age of instant reporting, tweets and blogs, there's a temptation to latch on to any bit of information, sometimes to jump to conclusions. But when a tragedy like this happens, with public safety at risk and the stakes so high, it's important we do this right." |
| What followed that first tweet was a week-long firehose of reportage, reaction and emotion, as millions rushed online in what has become a familiar pattern in the wake of a breaking news event, such as the destruction caused by tropical storm Sandy or the massacre at a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut. | What followed that first tweet was a week-long firehose of reportage, reaction and emotion, as millions rushed online in what has become a familiar pattern in the wake of a breaking news event, such as the destruction caused by tropical storm Sandy or the massacre at a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut. |
| But the Boston marathon and the city-wide manhunt that followed were in a league of their own. While other events had rolling news reports and reaction to sustain them, in Boston the aftermath and search for the perpetrators practically invited the city's residents and those motivated to follow events online to take part themselves. | But the Boston marathon and the city-wide manhunt that followed were in a league of their own. While other events had rolling news reports and reaction to sustain them, in Boston the aftermath and search for the perpetrators practically invited the city's residents and those motivated to follow events online to take part themselves. |
| One glaring opportunity was the Boston police department scanners – or radio – streamed online, meaning anyone in the world with an internet connection could follow, raw and verbatim, what officers were saying among themselves. The Boston PD's own Twitter account issued a blunt message to the scanner-addicts: "WARNING: Do Not Compromise Officer Safety by Broadcasting Tactical Positions of Homes Being Searched," which was itself retweeted more than 20,000 times. | One glaring opportunity was the Boston police department scanners – or radio – streamed online, meaning anyone in the world with an internet connection could follow, raw and verbatim, what officers were saying among themselves. The Boston PD's own Twitter account issued a blunt message to the scanner-addicts: "WARNING: Do Not Compromise Officer Safety by Broadcasting Tactical Positions of Homes Being Searched," which was itself retweeted more than 20,000 times. |
| That warning came too late for the unfortunate family of a missing Brown University student, who was named via Twitter and Reddit as a suspect based on garbled police scanner transcripts. | That warning came too late for the unfortunate family of a missing Brown University student, who was named via Twitter and Reddit as a suspect based on garbled police scanner transcripts. |
| The missing student – who is still missing – was joined by "Mike Mulugeta", an unconnected name that came up on the police scanner and was confidently tagged as a suspect. At least "Mike Mulugeta" doesn't appear to exist. | The missing student – who is still missing – was joined by "Mike Mulugeta", an unconnected name that came up on the police scanner and was confidently tagged as a suspect. At least "Mike Mulugeta" doesn't appear to exist. |
| As the initial shock and outrage subsided, Reddit users known as "redditors" organised a branch of the site to crowd-source sifting through the pile of images, some from official sources such as the FBI, but others from those who attended the race and posted still and video footage, in a hunt for clues to the killers. | As the initial shock and outrage subsided, Reddit users known as "redditors" organised a branch of the site to crowd-source sifting through the pile of images, some from official sources such as the FBI, but others from those who attended the race and posted still and video footage, in a hunt for clues to the killers. |
| The main online venue, a "sub-reddit" named /r/findbostonbombers, has now been taken down. But at the height of activity it produced a sprawling Wiki-like spreadsheet on Google that carried hundreds of comments about supposed suspects, with the nicknames and even names of supposed suspects leaking out into the wider social media. | The main online venue, a "sub-reddit" named /r/findbostonbombers, has now been taken down. But at the height of activity it produced a sprawling Wiki-like spreadsheet on Google that carried hundreds of comments about supposed suspects, with the nicknames and even names of supposed suspects leaking out into the wider social media. |
| Did it make any difference? Despite their optimism, Reddit users didn't nail down the actual suspects, even if they had the brothers in their sights, and the ambivalence over their efforts was summed up in a Washington Post headline: "Online detectives flourish, damage, help during Boston manhunt". | Did it make any difference? Despite their optimism, Reddit users didn't nail down the actual suspects, even if they had the brothers in their sights, and the ambivalence over their efforts was summed up in a Washington Post headline: "Online detectives flourish, damage, help during Boston manhunt". |
| What it did provoke, according to the Washington Post's FBI sources, is the early release on Thursday of the photographs of the Tsarnaev brothers, in part to limit the damage being done to those wrongly being targeted as suspects in the media. There was also the danger of the Tsarnaevs gaining public sympathy through a premature identification, given the false identifications that had already been given out by the media. | What it did provoke, according to the Washington Post's FBI sources, is the early release on Thursday of the photographs of the Tsarnaev brothers, in part to limit the damage being done to those wrongly being targeted as suspects in the media. There was also the danger of the Tsarnaevs gaining public sympathy through a premature identification, given the false identifications that had already been given out by the media. |
| In particular, the FBI said it was concerned that other sources identifying the Tsarnaevs could turn the manhunt into a free-for-all, "with news media cars and helicopters, as well as online vigilante detectives, competing with police in the chase to find the suspects". | In particular, the FBI said it was concerned that other sources identifying the Tsarnaevs could turn the manhunt into a free-for-all, "with news media cars and helicopters, as well as online vigilante detectives, competing with police in the chase to find the suspects". |
| In the end, it was new technology that tracked down the marathon bombers – but not the technology of online crowd-sourcing. Instead it was the FBI's examination of 2,000 digital images and closed-circuit video footage using sophisticated software – combined with an old-fashioned identification provided by injured spectator Jeff Bauman, who appears to have seen Tamerlan Tsarnaev place the bomb that blew Bauman's legs off. | In the end, it was new technology that tracked down the marathon bombers – but not the technology of online crowd-sourcing. Instead it was the FBI's examination of 2,000 digital images and closed-circuit video footage using sophisticated software – combined with an old-fashioned identification provided by injured spectator Jeff Bauman, who appears to have seen Tamerlan Tsarnaev place the bomb that blew Bauman's legs off. |
| A phone call from the brothers' aunt to the FBI tip line appears to have been the final confirmation. | A phone call from the brothers' aunt to the FBI tip line appears to have been the final confirmation. |
| But if it wasn't social media's finest hour, it was hardly its worst. While the usual compound of rumour, misinformation and repetition filled Twitter and elsewhere, there were also heroic efforts at rigour and accuracy, led by a journalist named Seth Mnookin, a teacher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mnookin's Twitter feed is a treasure-trove of social-media rebuttal. | But if it wasn't social media's finest hour, it was hardly its worst. While the usual compound of rumour, misinformation and repetition filled Twitter and elsewhere, there were also heroic efforts at rigour and accuracy, led by a journalist named Seth Mnookin, a teacher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mnookin's Twitter feed is a treasure-trove of social-media rebuttal. |
| Meanwhile, the speedy reactions of social media did at least see its worst errors corrected almost as rapidly. While erroneous identifications of the bombers did circulate freely, they were just as quickly snuffed out, although that might be little solace for those falsely accused. | Meanwhile, the speedy reactions of social media did at least see its worst errors corrected almost as rapidly. While erroneous identifications of the bombers did circulate freely, they were just as quickly snuffed out, although that might be little solace for those falsely accused. |
| The more traditional, mainstream branches of the media had a worse week. The New York Post would win the wooden spoon for reporting, which began with false reports of 12 people being killed in the explosions, to its front-page photograph on Thursday of two innocent students it labelled "bag men", while stripping the photograph of context. And then there was its false claim that investigators had a Saudi Arabian national suspect "under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital". | The more traditional, mainstream branches of the media had a worse week. The New York Post would win the wooden spoon for reporting, which began with false reports of 12 people being killed in the explosions, to its front-page photograph on Thursday of two innocent students it labelled "bag men", while stripping the photograph of context. And then there was its false claim that investigators had a Saudi Arabian national suspect "under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital". |
| Perhaps worried by the damage to his newspaper's reputation, Rupert Murdoch himself took to Twitter to claim that the "bag men" photo had been distributed by the FBI. That was labelled "a totally dishonest excuse" by Mnookin tweeting in response to Murdoch, an illustration of social media's strange bedfellows. | Perhaps worried by the damage to his newspaper's reputation, Rupert Murdoch himself took to Twitter to claim that the "bag men" photo had been distributed by the FBI. That was labelled "a totally dishonest excuse" by Mnookin tweeting in response to Murdoch, an illustration of social media's strange bedfellows. |
| The more celebrated brands of CNN and the Associated Press didn't exactly enjoy a reputation-burnishing week in Boston, with experienced CNN correspondent John Harwood going on air on Wednesday with news that a suspect was under arrest, a report confirmed by AP and the Boston Globe, and then carried throughout the world. | The more celebrated brands of CNN and the Associated Press didn't exactly enjoy a reputation-burnishing week in Boston, with experienced CNN correspondent John Harwood going on air on Wednesday with news that a suspect was under arrest, a report confirmed by AP and the Boston Globe, and then carried throughout the world. |
| Even NPR, the US equivalent of BBC radio, stumbled badly with a report claiming a third suspect had been arrested, while virtually every news organisation following the story falsely reported that the brothers had robbed a petrol station. In fact, they had merely shown up in the station's security footage following an unrelated robbery – where they were seen by a police officer who noted their resemblance to the suspects, in one of the most unlikely coincidences. | Even NPR, the US equivalent of BBC radio, stumbled badly with a report claiming a third suspect had been arrested, while virtually every news organisation following the story falsely reported that the brothers had robbed a petrol station. In fact, they had merely shown up in the station's security footage following an unrelated robbery – where they were seen by a police officer who noted their resemblance to the suspects, in one of the most unlikely coincidences. |
| In a chaotic week when truth was at a premium, the petrol station serendipity was truly stranger than fiction. | In a chaotic week when truth was at a premium, the petrol station serendipity was truly stranger than fiction. |
| Libel law | Libel law |
| When the FBI named Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as suspects in the Boston bombings, the internet lit up. Web sleuths rampaged across cyberspace, sharing details of their past out of a sense of civic duty. They were unconcerned by the laws of the justice system, either in the US or abroad, as they framed them as guilty before they were even apprehended. | When the FBI named Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as suspects in the Boston bombings, the internet lit up. Web sleuths rampaged across cyberspace, sharing details of their past out of a sense of civic duty. They were unconcerned by the laws of the justice system, either in the US or abroad, as they framed them as guilty before they were even apprehended. |
| Could this happen in the UK? Experts said the Contempt of Court Act governing the right of individuals to a fair trial would have been tested by the online research – but the risk of defamation would be more problematic. "In Boston they identified a completely innocent guy and in England that would be highly defamatory," said Duncan Lamont, a partner at London law firm Charles Russell LLP. | Could this happen in the UK? Experts said the Contempt of Court Act governing the right of individuals to a fair trial would have been tested by the online research – but the risk of defamation would be more problematic. "In Boston they identified a completely innocent guy and in England that would be highly defamatory," said Duncan Lamont, a partner at London law firm Charles Russell LLP. |
| Even suggesting an individual was of interest to the police might result in a hefty libel payout, he said, but it would be less likely to prejudice a trial because of the "fade factor" – the argument that jurors would have forgotten about potentially prejudicial information by the time of the trial. "Online vigilantism has to be made sensible. Whether we like it or not, it's the future," Lamont said. | Even suggesting an individual was of interest to the police might result in a hefty libel payout, he said, but it would be less likely to prejudice a trial because of the "fade factor" – the argument that jurors would have forgotten about potentially prejudicial information by the time of the trial. "Online vigilantism has to be made sensible. Whether we like it or not, it's the future," Lamont said. |
| Josh Halliday | Josh Halliday |
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