FAKE-NEWS: ‘Mosque to Have Speakers That Can be Heard 15 Miles Away’

This story was first published on May 18, 2015

Outline:
Report circulating via social media claims that a new mosque to be built in Birmingham UK will have a speaker system that can be heard 15 miles away, and will broadcast calls to prayer 5 times per day.


Brief Analysis:
The claims in the report are untrue. No mosque with a speaker system like the one described is being built in Birmingham. The story comes from the satirical website British News BFNN. The material published on the site should not be taken seriously. While a large mosque is being built in Dudley, a town near Birmingham, there are no suggestions that the mosque will include a massive speaker system that can be heard from 15 miles away.

Detailed Analysis:

According to a report currently circulating via social media and the blogosphere, a new ‘mega mosque’ to be built in the city of Birmingham UK will include a giant speaker system that can be heard up to 15 miles away. Supposedly, the speakers will be used to broadcast the call to prayer across the city 5 times per day.

The report is causing considerable angst and consternation among those who follow certain anti-Islamic and ‘British Patriot’ social media pages and websites. Some commentators have castigated the Birmingham City Council for allowing such an intrusive speaker system. Other, more radical, commentators have even suggested that the new mosque should be burned down or destroyed.

Report is False – Comes From Fake-News Website British News BFNN

However, the claims in the report are untrue. No speaker-laden mega mosque like the one described is set to be built in Birmingham. The story is a work of fiction that comes from the satirical website British News BFNN.

The site features the following rather strident disclaimer at the bottom of its pages:
FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT: MOST STORIES POSTED HERE ARE WORKS OF FICTION, AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE A MORON TO BELIEVE THEM!
And – for the record – there are no credible news reports about the building of such a mosque in Birmingham.

At the time of writing, a large – and somewhat controversial – mosque is to be built in Dudley, a town near Birmingham. The project has raised concerns among many local residents. However, a local Muslim spokesperson told the BBC that ‘like the current mosque, any call to prayer would only be heard within the building itself’.

To be clear, some mosques in various locations around the world do have speaker systems to call the faithful to prayer. And, such systems are certainly not always welcome and have been the subject of complaints, protests, and even lawsuits. However, it is extremely unlikely that even the loudest of these speaker systems would have a reach of 15 miles.

In fact, the image of the mosque used in the fake-news report also appeared in several news stories about mosque speaker issues going back several years.

In fact, the image of the mosque used in the fake-news report also appeared in several news stories about mosque speaker issues going back several years.

Wise to Check Social Media ‘News’ Reports Before You Share

Fictional reports disguised as news commonly go viral via social media. It is thus wise to verify any ‘news’ stories that appear on your social media feeds before you share them. Usually, searching a news portal such as Google News will quickly reveal if a circulating story is true.