Guidance to combat misinformation puts pressure on police to release details, says former senior Met officer
Police are being forced to disclose the ethnicity of suspects in response to a rise in far-right speculation on social media, a former senior officer in the Metropolitan police force has warned.
On Sunday morning at 10.30am, British Transport Police said two men had been arrested after multiple stabbings on a train in Cambridgeshire: a 32-year-old black British national and a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean descent. The 35-year-old was released with no further action, and “was not involved” in the attack, BTP said in a statement later on Sunday evening.
New guidance was issued in August to combat misinformation on social media, which spread last summer after the murder of three schoolgirls in Southport.
Campaigners have warned that the move may encourage focus on the racial background of suspects and lead to further rightwing conspiracy theories when information is not released to the public.
