Fakes are going crazy on social media, including phantom marches and false attacks

In Lombardy there are numerous cases of false information spread by social media, which from time to time reported street demonstrations which later turned out to be false, or spread false information on alleged violent actions against students and foreigners.

Cremona is deserted and armored by the police, but the demonstration is not taking place. In Pavia, false rumors about violent demonstrations

No procession, no suspicious presence in a city in any case armored by the police, with carabinieri and police guarding the schools, the train and bus stations and the historic center. But the alarm triggered by the call for a violent demonstration, similar to the one in Milan, which appeared yesterday morning on social media, had an effect: in Cremona this morning there were many absentees from schools and the center was deserted, among the shop windows protected by plywood panels.

Police investigations are underway: they are sifting through the chats that caused panic by announcing the riots. And the hypothesis of a fake circulated precisely to create fear is becoming increasingly accepted. The police are investigating the matter.

Even in Pavia, as in Cremona, the buzz of social media and the web has spread false information about violent actions that should have occurred today in the city and which did not occur. The Carabinieri intensified checks this morning near the train station, the bus station and the main schools of Pavia, following the clashes that occurred last weekend in Milan.

An action in line with the directives of the prefect, Francesca De Carlini, as part of the strategies shared within the provincial committee for public order and safety. The preventive action of the Army soldiers was also implemented following numerous phone calls of concern from some parents, which reached the operations center. The alarm was caused by a social media buzz, with the spread of some chats announcing violent actions in Pavia.

"Fortunately, the alarms have all proven to be unfounded - underlines a note from the Carabinieri of Pavia -; the Carabinieri patrols have searched all the areas of greatest interest, without detecting any violence or disturbance of public order. The services will continue in the coming days, paying maximum attention to the younger segments of the population".

In Milan, viral fake news about neo-fascists hunting foreigners

"Neo-fascist groups have organized themselves to go to the following areas (Cadorna, Duomo, Citylife, Navigli and Brera) to beat foreigners on sight": this is the text of one of the many fake news messages that began to circulate virally in the chats of students in Milan and its surroundings in the aftermath of the clashes in the city centre.

"If someone stops you or approaches you in a strange way, run" is the advice of the message, which ends with the invitation to share the information as much as possible, forwarding it to other groups. It is just one of the many messages circulating among young people, including institutional alerts developed with artificial intelligence, which invite "maximum attention because groups of young people responsible for attacks against boys, girls and foreign citizens in the metropolitan area of ​​Milan have been reported", but also photos of weapons accompanied by threatening writings and excited audio that tell of violence that never happened. Messages that initially worried the students, leading them to discuss them in person and in chats, to the point of branding the various alerts as fake news.