fact finder
Status: 10/14/2021 10:44 a.m.
In the context of the attack in Kongsberg, various media in Europe spread a false name for the suspect. This was invented by so-called trolls on the Internet.
After the alleged attack in Norway, the media spread a fictitious name of the suspect. Various Italian, Greek and French media claim that the alleged perpetrator of Kongsberg is a Rainer Winklarson. A news site from Austria also took over the alleged name of the alleged perpetrator, who was identified on social media, as the media claim. In addition, he has allegedly already announced his act in a video, it is said.
Troll action
The name is actually circulating on social media, but it is an action by so-called trolls who specifically want to create confusion. The name Rainer Winkler has been appearing again and again for years when it comes to alleged perpetrators of attacks. Winkler is a YouTuber who made headlines several times as the “Dragon Lord”. Hundreds of people were planning to do so in 2019 the YouTuber’s house demonstratingt, had to in September Winkler alias “Dragon Lord” again in court for insult and assault.
In the case of the Danish suspect von Kongsberg, trolls made that name Winklarson to make it sound Scandinavian. They distributed various tweets and videos claiming that Winklarson was the Kongsberg suspect. These claims were then apparently unchecked by various media outlets.
The video mentioned in various news media has been circulating online for months and has nothing to do with the attack in Kongsberg. It was only re-uploaded to YouTube and tagged with the name Rainer Winklarson.
Misinformation or disinformation?
Google News now lists almost 50 media reports that have taken the name Rainer Winklarson. The troll campaign from Germany even made it to Japan, where the Russian state broadcaster Sputnik took over a tweet claiming that the perpetrator was Rainer Winklarson.
Experts speak of such gross journalistic errors as misinformation – that is, incorrect, but not deliberate, misinformation. In the case of deliberately misleading reporting, however, the term disinformation is used.