As every GCSE physics student should know, nature abhors a vacuum. Where there is emptiness, natural forces will act to fill it.
Social media follows a similar pattern. If genuine information is lacking, it becomes a breeding ground for cranks and conspiracy theorists to spread their ideologies quickly.
While many times their fabrications have minimal impact on our daily lives, there are instances where their influence can be profound. This was evident in the aftermath of the tragic Southport murders.
Following the horrific incident where Axel Rudakubana fatally stabbed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, the police held back crucial details about his identity and background for several days.
As a result, the online rumour mill went into overdrive. The killer was a Muslim asylum seeker, they said. He had only recently arrived here, and this was how he repaid our hospitality.
This was a flat lie, of course, but it gathered such currency that anger grew and anti-immigrant protests sprang up around the country, some involving attacks on mosques and migrant hostels.
It was an inexcusable orgy of violence, but it could have been nipped in the bud had the police seized the narrative by countering the lies with salient facts.
For days police refused to release more than the most basic information about the identity and background of Axel Rudakubana (pictured) who stabbed three young girls to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class
Instead, they hid behind contempt of court rules to justify virtual silence. This was spurious and seriously unwise.
Those laws are meant to prevent a ‘substantial risk of serious prejudice’ to a fair trial. They should not be used as a blanket excuse for keeping the public in the dark on a matter of huge importance.
Yesterday, Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to three murders, ten attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an Al Qaeda training manual.
He is clearly a severely unbalanced young man, obsessed with murder and genocide. He had been excluded from school following a knife threat and was known to the authorities through Prevent, the Government’s anti-extremism programme.
However, he was not an asylum seeker, and he is not a Muslim. He was born in Wales to Christian parents originally from Rwanda.
If this information had been disclosed at the time, the riots would almost certainly not have happened.
As it was, while the families of the dead and wounded were in the throes of shock and grief, a malign circus was playing out around them.
Yesterday, Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to three murders, ten attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an Al Qaeda training manual. Pictured: victims of Axel Rudakubana (L-R) Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe
Axel Rudakubana was not an asylum seeker, and he is not a Muslim. He was born in Wales to Christian parents originally from Rwanda. If this information had been disclosed at the time, the riots would almost certainly not have happened. Pictured: Riot police hold back protesters in Southport
Extraordinarily harsh penalties were eventually handed down to rioters and those who spread false rumours that fuelled them, but the damage was already done.
The police and Home Office no doubt believed they were doing the right thing in suppressing the truth. They may have thought that even mentioning asylum seekers or Muslims was inflammatory.
But they must understand in the age of social media they cannot control the flow of false information. They can only refute it with facts. Silence is no longer an option.
Other troubling questions arise out of this heart-rending case. Why, for example, was Rudakubana not monitored despite being referred three times to Prevent?
He may not have been aligned to any group, but he was known to police and social services. How could they have failed to notice how dangerously disturbed he really was?
It is always said after traumatic incidents like this that lessons must be learned. For the sake of those poor girls and their bereft families, let’s hope this time it’s true.
