Posts from a 4chan messaging board that falsely identified the gunman as an individual who was not involved were circulated online.

Google says the posts only appeared in its Top Stories section if users searched for the erroneous name.

Facebook said it took down the posts within minutes.

Speculation gone viral

The problem occurred when users began speculating about the identity of the gunman on 4chan, a controversial anonymous messaging board.

The users named an individual on the Politically Incorrect message board, claiming that the person was a “far left loon” and a “social democrat”.

The comments were picked up by several blogs and news sites, including an article by the right-wing political website, the Gateway Pundit.

Many users then searched for the erroneous name on Google. The internet giant’s algorithms traced the original source of the story back to the 4chan message board and posted a link to it in the Top Stories section.

“Unfortunately, early this morning we were briefly surfacing an inaccurate 4chan website in our search results for a small number of queries,” a Google spokesperson told the BBC.

“Within hours, the 4chan story was algorithmically replaced by relevant results. This should not have appeared for any queries, and we’ll continue to make algorithmic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future.”

However, Google said only a small number of search queries were made for the name, which suggests that not many people would have seen the 4chan link.

As for Facebook, the social network told the Associated Press that it began removing results relating to the Gateway Pundit and 4chan within minutes.

The Gateway Pundit’s White House correspondent Lucian Wintrich told far-right conspiracy website Infowars that the article was only online for 10 minutes before it was taken down.

Despite Facebook’s efforts to remove hyperlinks to the story, users had made screenshots of the incorrect story and continued to circulate these images online, which were harder to detect and take down.

“We are working to fix the issue that allowed this to happen in the first place and deeply regret the confusion this caused,” a Facebook spokesman said.

Who is responsible?

Google and Facebook have been criticised several times in the last 12 months for promoting content later found to be false, particularly relating to breaking news events.

Both tech giants have announced measures to fight inaccurate news in the last few months.

“Google and Facebook are much bigger than any media company now, but they insist that they are not publishers, that they are merely platforms, and as platforms, they don’t need to take responsibility for their content,” Prof Tim Luckhurst, head of Kent University’s Centre for Journalism told the BBC.

“Governments create laws that allow broadcasters and newspapers to be sued, so it’s up to the government to stand up to these websites and say that if anything relating to terrorism or false information is published, they can be sued.”

Prof Luckhurst pointed out that in the past, Google and Facebook had been quick to tweak their algorithms when requested to do so by the Chinese government.

“Algorithms are not organic creations – they are the product of very clever software writers.

“They can tweak them when the Chinese government asks them to, they can tweak them to do target advertising, but if you ask them to tweak their algorithms in relation to terrorism or untruths, they say, ‘We’re not publishers.’

“But they’ve demonstrated that they clearly can do it, and so they should do it.”

Individuals who shared the content online could face legal action.

“It’s for individuals to take responsibility for what they post on social media, this person could make a lot of money from suing all these people who shared the screenshot online,” said Dominic Ponsford, editor of the Press Gazette.

“Google should be only indexing bona fide news sources – it should be straightforward to check what is a bona fide news source and what isn’t.

“It’s kind of astonishing that Google’s not doing that, given the huge concern in America about fake news.”

–

Source: BBC

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A Chinese man has suffered a lucky escape after a knife fell from the sky and landed in the top of his head.

Xiao Yunzhi, 57, was out for a walk in his hometown of Guangyuan, Sichaun Province, before a five-inch kitchen knife fell from the top of a high-rise apartment block.

Even more unbelievably, Mr Xiao did not immediately notice the impact, despite reporting that his head started to feel heavy.

However, as soon as the problem was pointed out by the astonished local tobacconist, pain rushed though Mr Xiao’s body as bemused onlookers called for an ambulance.

He was still being treated by local intensive care on Monday after the knife which was lodged in his head was finally removed.

Damage: Mr Xiao assessed the damage that the knife caused to the top of his head

The man’s sister was quick to the scene and explained the horror.

“It was terrifying to see,” the Telegraph reports.

“The knife handle was sticking out of the top.”

“He is stable but is not fully out of danger yet,” his sister said. “He cannot use the phone yet in case it has an effect on his condition.”

The knife reportedly belonged to a man named Mr Wu, who said that he left his kitchen utensil on one of his balcony flowerpots, never imagining that it could have fallen off.

“They told the police that the wind must have blown it off,” Miss Xiao added. “They have already come to visit my brother in the hospital and have paid some of his medical bills.”

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The mutilated bodies of Janet Donkor, 20, and Vida Dawaalle 18, have since been deposited at the Holy Family Hospital in Techiman, while their colleague, Ambrose Dayeletre, is in a critical condition at the hospital.

The tipper truck ran over two others, Issaku Abdulai 26, and Fuseini Soale 33, who were riding on an unregistered Hadjin motor bike.

They are also in critical conditions at the same hospital.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Andrews Okonengye, Techiman Municipal Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), told the Ghana News Agency that the accident occurred around 2:45pm.

He explained that the accident happened when the truck which was descending a valley on the highway, burst one of its front tyres.

ASP Okonengye said the driver of the truck who reported the accident, has been placed in police  custody for interrogation.

Source: GNA

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According to an eyewitness report, an articulated truck collided with a motorbike carrying two people.

The eyewitness, who gave his name as Alex, reported that the driver of the motorbike lost his life on the spot and his body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue.

His passenger however, was seriously injured and is currently receiving treatment at the Police Hospital.

 The Nungua Police arrived at the scene of the accident and have restored order. Traffic is said to be moving smoothly.

By: Afriyie Amoako/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Abdul Salaam, 38, was driving the Yutong bus which collided head-on with the Mahindra bus on which the deceased, Hajia Adiza Sali, Deputy Greater-Accra Regional Women Organizer, and Agnes Tia, Deputy Volta Regional Women Organizer, and two others were traveling.

He will re-appear on June 6.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Andrews Okonengye, said the accident occurred on Saturday April 26, around 6:30pm.

He explained that the accused person decided to overtake a vehicle near a hill at Nipahiamoa; a community along the highway, but lost control and his vehicle collided with the Mahindra bus, thus seriously injuring the two other occupants.

Source: GNA

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