Report:

Anti-immigrant group confuses bus seats with burka-wearing women

Rasa - A picture of bus seats posted on a Facebook page has sparked online controversy after an anti-immigrant group confused the seats with women wearing burkas in the photo, a report says.

News ID: 431400

Date: 02 August 2017 - 21:05

RNA - Users were left in shock and mockery on Wednesday after it became known that a member of the Fatherland First, a Norwegian anti-immigrant group active in the Facebook, posted a picture of empty bus seats and confused them with women wearing burkas, a full-body veil used in public by some Muslim women, a report by the Telegraph said.

Prankster Johan Slattavik flatteringly asked what followers of the page thought of the picture, which showed a line of empty black seats at the back of a bus. Some apparently believed the post was serious and said burka-wearing women should be banned from Norway as they could be terrorists.

“It looks really scary, should be banned. You can never know who is under there. Could be terrorists with weapons,” wrote one user.

“Get them out of our country … Frightening times we are living in,” said another one.

However, another user spotted the gaffe and shared screenshots on Facebook, showing that the picture only depicted empty seats.

Sindre Beyer called Fatherland First (Fedrelandet viktigst in Norwegian) a disgusting Facebook group which was exploiting anti-immigration sentiments to its own benefit.

“What happens when a photo of some empty bus seats is posted to a disgusting Facebook group and nearly everyone thinks they see a bunch of burkas?” asked Beyer.

Other users rushed to Beyer’s help and called the posts scary, shocking, hateful and a proof how some people easily spread fake news on the internet.

Wearing burkas has turned to be a thorny issue in some European countries as several governments have moved to ban it under increasing pressure from anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant political parties. France and Belgium have imposed restrictions on the use of burkas in public. Norway, which has seen a surge in anti-immigrant feelings over the past years, has also banned the dress in classrooms and university lecture halls.

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