Media Promote Twitter Meme for Nonexistent Anti-Muslim 'Backlash' in Australia

Before the hostage standoff with an Islamic gunman in Sydney had even ended on Monday, the media had already seized on a social media campaign that offered protection to Australian Muslims against imagined bigotry that had not occurred. On Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos touted: "The #IllRideWithYou trending worldwide on Twitter. It's a message of tolerance from Sydney residents offering solidarity with Muslims in the cities. Locals concerned people in religious attire could be harassed."

In the same 7 a.m. ET hour on CNN's New Day, journalist Bobby Ghosh praised the effort as "a wonderful thing" and declared: "Australians are stepping up and saying, 'If you're a Muslim, if you want to wear religious clothing and you're worried about going on public transport, I'll ride with you'....It rejects the idea that Muslims cannot live in Australia or that Muslims should feel oppressed in Australia..."

Why would Muslims be afraid to ride public transportation or feel "oppressed" in Australia? Again, there were no incidents reported of any Muslim citizens being persecuted.

At the end of CNN's At This Hour in the 11 a.m. ET hour, correspondent Laurie Segall provided the back story on the hashtag:

And the story behind this is a woman was on – was on a bus and she heard that this attack might have been racially motivated and she feared anti-Muslim sentiment, so she started to take off her religious attire, and a woman said, "Stop," you know, "Don't do this. I'll ride with you." This story got pick up and it was this idea that in light of everything happening and if there could be any anti-Muslim sentiment out of this, why don't we ban together on social media and show our support for each other and win when it comes to peace. And I think that's the idea. And obviously it picked up and did very well online, as you see.

Co-host John Berman replied: "What a remarkable message and just adding to this story, which in some ways played out on social media."

On MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports in the 12 p.m. ET hour, correspondent Sara James proclaimed: "And it's basically Australians saying to Muslims in this country, 'If you feel nervous in the wake of what's happened, that people are going to be hostile to you because you, too, are a Muslim, we'll ride with you on the train, on the bus. Just let us know.' And this has really been quite an unexpected and gratifying aspect of what's been coming out of this."

As she spoke, a tweet appeared on screen that announced: "#IllRideWithYou: Sydney stands up to racism and bigotry with one beautiful hastag."

Later in the hour, correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin fretted: "What we've seen in the past in similar attacks like this is there tends to be public outlash sometimes against the Muslim community." He then praised #IllRideWithYou: "And today we saw some of that reflected on social media. A lot of people coming back, suggesting that they would ride along with Muslims to try to prevent any kind of this public backlash that may happen against the community at large."

The media promotion of the trending topic continued on Tuesday, with CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell informing viewers: "...the social media campaign "I'll ride with you" has skyrocketed online. It's aimed at fighting a possible backlash against Muslims in Australia after the deadly siege at a Sydney café."

On CNN Newsroom in the 10 a.m. ET hour, host Carol Costello described how "some of the tweets are very touching," teeing up Islamic Monthly senior editor Arsalan Iftikhar to hail the meme: "This was a viral campaign, you know, that went worldwide and it showed how a true liberal democracy responds to acts of terror. They don't marginalize minority demographic groups, they show support for diversity and inclusion all around their country."

At no point in any of the press coverage did any anchor or correspondent explain that no Muslims in Australia had actually been harassed in the wake of the hostage taking.

Here are excerpts of the coverage on December 15 and 16:

Good Morning America
12/15/14
7:08 AM

(...)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And you know, there's been a huge response on social media this morning. The #IllRideWithYou trending worldwide on Twitter. It's a message of tolerance from Sydney residents offering solidarity with Muslims in the cities. Locals concerned people in religious attire could be harassed. So, so many people are tweeting and offering to ride with them.

(...)

New Day
12/15/14
7:51 AM

(...)

CHRIS CUOMO: So social media is used by the bad guys, it's also being used by the good guys. And that takes us to another interesting point here Bobby. The problem is that you're fighting an idea. That's what a deranged person can cling to, someone who thinks they're sympathetic can cling to. So it's how you deal with that idea. We have news of something else that's going on in Australia right now on social media as a reaction to this. Tell us about it.  

BOBBY GHOSH: Well, it's a wonderful thing. I mean, you're right, fighting an idea is a very difficult thing. Governments will get involved, counterterrorism groups will get involved. But oftentimes the best way to fight an idea is with ordinary people.

Earlier today, an Australian woman noticed while she was on public transport a Muslim woman removing her religious garb because she was a little afraid of how Muslims would be perceived in this moment. This Australian woman chased after that Muslim woman and said to her, "No, if you are comfortable with your religious garment put it back on. And If you're worried how people will respond, I'll ride with you."

CUOMO: So the #IllRideWithYou is-

GHOSH: Is now going viral across Twitter. Australians are stepping up and saying, "If you're a Muslim, if you want to wear religious clothing and you're worried about going on public transport, I'll ride with you."

CUOMO: Adding an idea of inclusion to what is certainly a theory of exclusion, which is what we're dealing with, with terrorism.

GHOSH: That's right. And it's a much more powerful way of reaching out, if you like, than governments making statements or police departments making [statements]. It rejects the idea that Muslims cannot live in Australia or that Muslims should feel oppressed in Australia when Australians are stepping up and saying, "I not only respect your religious right, I respect your right to wear your religious – whatever you feel comfortable wearing and I will ride with you if you feel worried." That's so powerful.

(...)

At This Hour
12/15/14
11:57 AM

(...)

MICHAELA PEREIRA: I want to turn to something positive that came out of a really awful, awful situation. Tell us the story about this hashtag that's trending right now.

LAURIE SEGALL: Sure. This is really nice to hear in light of something like this. There's the #IllRideWithYou. Now this is being tweeted like a thousand times a minute. You're looking right there at how quickly this is being tweeted. It's been picked up everywhere.

And the story behind this is a woman was on – was on a bus and she heard that this attack might have been racially motivated and she feared anti-Muslim sentiment, so she started to take off her religious attire, and a woman said, "Stop," you know, "Don't do this. I'll ride with you." This story got pick up and it was this idea that in light of everything happening and if there could be any anti-Muslim sentiment out of this, why don't we ban together on social media and show our support for each other and win when it comes to peace. And I think that's the idea. And obviously it picked up and did very well online, as you see.

JOHN BERMAN: What a remarkable message and just adding to this story, which in some ways played out on social media.

(...)

Andrea Mitchell Reports
12/15/14
12:08 PM

(...)

SARA JAMES: And there's been a fascinating campaign here. There was a woman who was wearing a head scarf and she saw another person and took it off hurriedly. She was worried about it. And the woman said, "Oh, don't feel like you have to take that off." And a campaign has started called "I'll ride with you," and it's gained an enormous following on Twitter and other forms of social media.

And it's basically Australians saying to Muslims in this country, "If you feel nervous in the wake of what's happened, that people are going to be hostile to you because you, too, are a Muslim, we'll ride with you on the train, on the bus. Just let us know."

[TWEET ON SCREEN: Andrew Stroehlein @Astroehlein: #IllRideWithYou: Sydney stands up to racism and bigotry with one beautiful hastag]

And this has really been quite an unexpected and gratifying aspect of what's been coming out of this. So that's been another – another element of it here.

(...)

12:37 PM

(...)

ANDREA MITCHELL: And Freya, we've been very struck by the outreach, the #I'llRideWithYou that has been a spontaneous social media response to the fears of some Muslim women who are wearing the hijab on public transport after this incident began, when it was still unknown just what the dimensions were. That does seem to reflect the inclusiveness and the open spirit of Australia, which is a tradition that goes back, you know, centuries.

[TWEET ON SCREEN: Andrew Stroehlein @Astroehlein: #IllRideWithYou: Sydney stands up to racism and bigotry with one beautiful hastag]

FREYA NOBLE [DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA]: Yeah, I mean, it's great to see something like that coming out of such a terrible situation. It's really quite heartening to see Australians reacting this way and that this is not, you know – this is not the fault of any other Australians, that we are an accepting community and, you know, we really have to ban together during tough times like this.

[TWEET ON SCREEN: B. Allen-Ebrahimian @BethanyAllenBR: My Husband was violently assaulted in public 2 days after Boston bombing. I wish someone had been walking with him then. #IllRideWithYou]

I think that's just a really great representation of, you know, the thoughts of the majority of Australians and we should be there to support each other through times like this.

(...)

12:48 PM

MITCHELL: And there's still a lot to uncover about the Sydney hostage situation as we await a briefing from officials there. NBC foreign correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin joins me now from New York. Ayman, this certainly is a big issue for the Muslim community in Australia as you've got this man with uncertain motives who is causing fear in the middle of the biggest city in the country.

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Yeah, and what we've seen in the past in similar attacks like this is there tends to be public outlash sometimes against the Muslim community. The Muslim community in Australia, pretty sizeable, 500,000 or so people in a country of about twenty-three million. But they also have a very rich immigration history in Australia, the Muslim population there very assimilated, very much integrated into Australian society. A country very similar to the U.S., made up historically of a lot of immigrants.

And today we saw some of that reflected on social media. A lot of people coming back, suggesting that they would ride along with Muslims to try to prevent any kind of this public backlash that may happen against the community at large.

In situations like this, obviously, authorities and officials will try to differentiate between this lone wolf attack or this type of lone wolf attack, if it turns out to be like that, and the broader, general Muslim population, which has already come out and very much condemned this type of attack. They try to avoid, obviously, being associated with these types of terrorist attacks, but that sometimes is hard when all kinds of questions are raised in the media about the motivations behind this individual, obviously an individual who is – at least appears on the surface to be Muslim and tried to use this – the shroud if you will, of some of the political terrorism, including ISIS and other groups, in this attack.

So I think it's something that officials are going to try to differentiate between. And it's certainly something that is already weighing in on the public conscious of a lot of Australians who are responding to today's tragedy in Sydney. Andrea.

MITCHELL: Ayman Mohyeldin in New York, thanks so much.

CBS This Morning
12/16/14
7:31 AM

NORAH O’DONNELL: The Sydney Morning Herald says the social media campaign “I'll ride with you” has skyrocketed online. It's aimed at fighting a possible backlash against Muslims in Australia after the deadly siege at a Sydney cafe. It started in Brisbane when a Brisbane woman offered to walk with a Muslim woman as they got off a train. One Twitter user posted “if you wear religious attire and need to get from Adelaide's west suburbs to the city on Tuesday but don't want to travel alone #I'll ride with you.

CNN Newsroom
12/16/14
10:40 AM

CAROL COSTELLO:  In downtown Sydney, Australia, the taking of hostages in a coffee shop by a lone Muslim gunman was immediately condemned by Islamic leaders in Australia. That sort reaction has become almost automatic in these situations.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Should Muslims Always Denounce Terrorism]

The attack also prompted another kind of response – #IllRideWithYou. One person tweeted, "If you reg take the #373 bus b/w Coogee/MartinPl, wear religious attire, & don't feel safe alone: I'll rid with you." Another woman tweeted, "To the ladies who I shared a cab with this afternoon – Mica and Dixie, thank you from the bottom of my heart." And still another said "I'm not in Sydney, but I am in Australia, and if anyone in Adelaide feels unsafe wearing religious attire, #illridewithyou."

So let's talk about this. Arsalan Iftikhar is senior editor of Islamic Monthly and founder of  TheMuslimGuy.com. Good morning.

ARSALAN IFTIKHAR: Good morning, Carol. It's good to be with you.

COSTELLO: It's nice to have you hear. So that hashtag went viral. It – I mean, some of the tweets are very touching.

IFTIKHAR: Yeah. I mean, it was incredible, you know, the outpouring of support from everyday Australians. This was a viral campaign, you know, that went worldwide and it showed how a true liberal democracy responds to acts of terror. They don't marginalize minority demographic groups, they show support for diversity and inclusion all around their country. And on behalf of Muslims worldwide, Australia, we will ride with you as well.

(...)