A recent serious assault in Carrigaline is being used by far-right groups to spread disinformation worldwide on social media, according to a company which monitors extremism.

Moonshot CVE works with governments and social media companies to track and counter violent extremism, terrorisim, disinformation and organised crime on the internet.

Following a widely-publicized assault in Carrigaline on Saturday night, a juvenile was arrested, charged and has now been released on bail.

The assault - and a video which appeared on social media related to the incident - were widely shared on Twitter and other social media apps.

Many people also shared specific information about the identity and location of individuals involved, including names, photos and addresses.

Moonshot CVE, a London based tech company run by Cork native Ross Frennett, has been tracking how this information has been shared, distorted and "weaponized" by many groups including those on the far right.

Using specialist software, Moonshot CVE were able to track information and accounts online.

They identified a number of online networks that were engaging in activities aimed at using the incident to spread false information and drive a racist and hate agenda.

The company discovered that certain networks were producing and sharing fake screenshots allegedly belonging to supposed gangs in Cork city.

Fake accounts had also been set up alleging to belong to the gangs and the networks were also encouraging retaliation and violence.

A lot of the falsified material gained traction across social media over the weekend with numerous false screenshots and posts being shared.

Moonshot CVE founder, Ross Frennett told CorkBeo that this is a common tactic used by such organisations.

“These groups jump in on the hashtag and say ‘join here to stop it’.

“Others are trying to claim that this is the sign of a coming race war and the only way to win is by joining neo-nazi or far-right organisations.

“We see this every time there is a crime committed by a minority anywhere in the world, they will jump on the bandwagon.

“It just so happens that Cork is the target today but next week it could be anywhere."

Ross also told us about the type of false information that was found in relation to the violent incident in Carrigaline.

“We found fake Twitter accounts that were alleged to be from the gang, screenshots of WhatsApps that were also alleged to be from them.

“There was also a lot of amplification from overseas, a lot of accounts from America and England that were trying to shift the narrative and make it a racial issue.