In the past couple of weeks, we have seen two major news stories blown out of proportion, mainly due to false news and misinformation in social media.

Firstly, there were the riots in England and Northern Ireland following the frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event in Southport, which left three young girls dead and another eight injured. 

Social media went ballistic with false stories of the attacker being “Muslim” – even giving him a Muslim sounding name, describing him as “an illegal immigrant who just arrived in the UK by boat two weeks ago” and claiming that he cried out “Allah Akbar” as he slaughtered these young girls. All of which was untrue.

These fake stories then sparked the riots we saw on our television screens and the pouring out of racial hatred as rioters tried to burn down a local mosque. 

The second incident was the case of the two female Olympic boxers, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, and more predominantly Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who were both falsely labelled as transgender in various social media posts.

The backlash followed Khelif’s defeat, in just 46 seconds, of Italy’s Angela Carini at the Paris Olympics.

Khelif landed a heavy punch to Carini’s face which dislodged her headgear .Subsequent blows pushed her back into her corner, where she fell to her knees before quitting.

She said she had never been hit as hard as that before, refused to shake Khelif’s hand, and later commented “It’s unfair and dangerous.”

This comment referred to the fact that both Khelif and Yu-Ting had previously been disqualified by the International Boxing Association from the 2023 World Boxing Championships for failing a gender test.

Imane Khelif was the subject of a slew of misleading social media posts.Imane Khelif was the subject of a slew of misleading social media posts. (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Following the fight and this revelation, social media went berserk with false stories of the female boxers being “transgender” and claims that Khelif was simply “a man legally hitting a woman”. 

The reality is that neither woman is transgender. Both are alleged to have what’s known as ‘Differences of Sexual Development’, or DSD. 

DSD refers to a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy between an individual’s chromosomal, gonadal (ovaries or testes), or anatomical sex.

So, people with DSD may have characteristics of both sexes, for example, someone might have male chromosomes (XY) but female genitalia – which is apparently the situation with Khelif and Yu-Ting.

Now, in my mind, women’s safety is paramount, particularly in combat sports. So I totally agree that women who are not biological women, i.e. those that have male chromosomes, should not be allowed to fight biological females.

It is obviously unfair, as a person with DSD will have more muscle mass and higher testosterone levels, particularly through puberty, than a biological female, which gives them an unfair advantage. 

To me, it’s a safety issue. And it is also a feminist issue. Women have fought hard to get female rights and opportunities, it’s not fair to have biological males take this away from them. A controversial comment, I know, but it’s true.

That’s not to say that I don’t sympathise with people with DSD. I do. And I am totally against the false news and misinformation that was, and currently still is, being spread about Khelif. That too is simply wrong. 

There is no room for transphobic, Islamophobic and/or racist violence in our society. This culture of false news and misinformation has to stop.

People need to realise they are being manipulated by far-right, anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, anti-transgender, anti-LGBTQ groups who are feeding their racist and bigoted hatred into social media posts. It needs to stop. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but keep it real folks. 

Until next time, stay safe.