Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/987221
NEWS | SUNDAY • 27 MAY 2018 maltatoday KARL AZZOPARDI THE namesake of the man ac- cused of grievously injuring police constable Simon Schem- bri in a harrowing hit-and-run, had a taste of lynching by so- cial media when his Facebook profile was flooded by possibly harmful comments. The police officer was run- over by 17-year-old Liam Debono, a Tarxien resident now accused of attempted murder. But with five new Facebook profiles opened every second globally, the chances of mis- taken identity in the world of social media – especially in tiny Malta – are only too easy. Having recently changed his own Facebook profile name to 'il-Lillu', Facebook users searching for Liam Debono on the social media platform were faced with a list of profiles that did not belong to the young of- fender. One of those profiles hap- pened to be of 20-year-old Li- am Debono, of Fgura. In the span of three days, Debono, a student at MCAST, received 80 online friend re- quests. At first not bothering him, as the number of requests grew, Debono had to come to terms with the way people had jumped to the conclusion that he was responsible for the hit- and-run. "People read the first two sen- tences of a newspaper report and suddenly start coming to conclusions about the case, without being properly in- formed," Debono said, adding that his Facebook photos were circulating in various comment boxes on online newspapers, in a clear case of mistaken identity gone wild. "Some people posted photos of me on social media groups, and they thought I was making fun of the incident, sort of rub- bing it in," he said, referring to a photo he uploaded the same day of the incident, with the status: 'Hopefully better days on the way'. He had only just come out of a major surgical operation. "They misinterpreted that quote and thought it was refer- ring to the aftermath of the ac- cident," Debono said. The young man said he was confused and angered about the way he was being wrongly connected to the attempted murder, and that despite re- porting the wrongful com- ments, he was unable to take control of the situation. "I felt frustrated and out of control, trying to get the com- ments off the web, and then I started getting print screens from my peers of people wrongly mentioning my profile, even in closed groups like 'The Salott'," he said of the popular Facebook group. Debono said that he was even contacted by his own college director, who was shocked at the news and thought he had been involved. "Two of the people that added me on Facebook are frequent visitors at my uncle's restau- rant, where I work. Had these people seen the comments of those who were misinterpret- ing the situation, and had I not publicly clarified the situation, I'm sure we could have lost those customers. "I cannot understand how people can react in such a hasty manner, and I want to appeal to Facebook users to pay at- tention and only post informed comments in situations like these. The wrong kind of con- clusion about people in such situations could make matters worse for innocent parties." PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIAT FOR EUROPEAN FUNDS AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIAT FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND ANIMAL RIGHTS In order to conserve fish stocks and manage EU fishing fleets effectively it is essential to collect, use and manage fisheries data. The ultimate scope of the CFP is the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources from the environmental, economic, and social perspectives. WWW. MESDC.GOV.MT European Maritime and Fisheries Fund DATA COLLECTION MULTIANNUAL PROGRAMME 2017-2019 Maritime and Fisheries Operational Programme 2014-2020 Part-financed by the European Union European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Co-financing rate: 80% European Union Funds; 20% National funds Investing in sustainable fisheries and aquaculture The EU's Data Collection Multi Annual Programme (DC MAP) concerns the collection of data in the fisheries sector towards the provision of scientific advice as required through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The managing of EU fishin g fleets and the conserving of fish stocks is known as the CFP. Facebook warriors turn guns on wrong man Facebook frenzy over police hit- and-run turns social media users into judge, jury and executioners of wrong Liam Debono "People read the first two sentences of a newspaper report and suddenly start coming to conclusions about the case, without being properly informed." Liam Debono, top, was wrongly identified on social media as the hit-and-run culprit