Disinformation Experts Sound Alarm Over Online Rush to Assign Blame

After a recent tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., disinformation experts are warning about the dangerous consequences of online rushes to identify suspects, following the RCMP’s need to address false accusations against an innocent Ontario woman.

On Friday, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald publicly released a confirmed photo of Jesse Van Rootselaar, the actual shooter in the Tumbler Ridge incident. During the same announcement, McDonald called out false accusations circulating online against a person named Zylii Strang, who has no connection to the case.

“Zylii — this did not need to happen. We know you are not involved,” McDonald stated during the press conference.

According to reports, the misidentification appears to have stemmed from a name similarity. McDonald explained that the person in Ontario had a similar name to someone associated with the crime, apparently referring to the fact that Jesse Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Jacobs, also went by the name Jennifer Strang.

Ahmed Al-Rawi, a professor in the communication department at Simon Fraser University and director of the Disinformation Project, points to prejudice as a key factor in the spread of misinformation.

“Biases and prejudices resulted in people spreading images of innocent transgender people after it emerged the shooter was trans,” said Al-Rawi. He added that various motivations drive this behavior, with some individuals hoping their posts would go viral for financial gain, while others become entangled in conspiracy theories.

The incident highlights a troubling pattern that has been amplified by social media, according to Heidi Tworek, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and history department.

“We’ve seen in multiple cases, not just this one, these misidentifications of people that have had tremendous deleterious consequences for those innocent individuals who are not at all connected to these tragedies,” Tworek said.

She explained that there has always been public interest in uncovering details of crimes before official information is released, but this phenomenon has been “massively accelerated” by social media platforms. The gap between the pace of official investigations and the public’s desire for immediate information creates fertile ground for conspiracy theories to take root.

“The speed at which official investigations can move versus how fast people want to know things always creates this kind of base in which conspiracy theories flourish,” Tworek noted. “Social media accelerates the possibility of leaving more innocent people being caught in the crossfire.”

The human toll of such misidentifications is severe. According to Agence France-Presse, Krista Strang, mother of the falsely accused Zylii, said her 25-year-old daughter was “devastated” by the situation and afraid to leave her home after being wrongly linked to the shooting.

“I don’t understand how (her profile) was linked to this crime other than my child being transgender and having (the) last name Strang,” Krista Strang told AFP. Zylii Strang is reportedly seven years older than the actual shooter, Van Rootselaar.

British Columbia resident Melissa Antoinette has taken to multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, urging people to remove the misleading images of Strang.

“I feel absolutely terrible for anybody to have their image attached to any sort of horrific event or anything that they didn’t do,” Antoinette said. She reported seeing “so much hate” in the comments that she felt compelled to report some of them to the platforms.

The situation was exacerbated when some media organizations’ reporters shared the incorrect images, further amplifying the false information.

McDonald acknowledged that the significant public attention surrounding the incident has heightened concern in many communities across Canada. “We are mindful that public and media response and coverage can increase false reports, but can also bring forward serious complaints,” he said.

Mark Deeley, a teacher at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School who has been praised for protecting his class during the shooting, addressed the situation on Facebook Sunday. He emphasized that using the tragedy as an excuse to vilify transgender individuals is unacceptable.

“I do not and will not exacerbate the intolerance with hate. My humanity refuses it,” Deeley wrote. He added that love is the only way to combat hate, stating, “We need voices that are louder than those who would deny someone’s right to exist as their true self.”