Following the knife attack in a shopping mall in Sydney, speculations and false allegations were spread online at an alarming rate. It even led to an innocent man being labelled as the attacker.

Mark Lowen speaks to the BBC’s Sydney correspondent Katy Watson on the shock and sorrow in the country. And BBC Disinformation & Social Media Correspondent Marianna Spring tells him about her experience confronting one of the people at the heart of the social media frenzy.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We’re keen to hear from you, wherever you are in the world. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480. #TheGlobalStory

The Global Story is part of the BBC News Podcasts family. The team that makes The Global Story also makes several other podcasts, such as Americast and Ukrainecast, which cover US news and the war in Ukraine. If you enjoy The Global Story, then we think that you will enjoy some of our other podcasts too. To find them, simply search on your favourite podcast app.

This episode was made by Alice Aylett Roberts and Emilia Jansson. The technical producers were Mike Regaard and Dafydd Evans. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Sydney mall attack: How a social media frenzy unfolded 24:06 Share

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Sydney mall attack: How a social media frenzy unfolded