Absurd hoax continues to spread that Roma NGOs want Czech Television series cancelled
A hoax has been spreading online in association with the broadcast of the Most! comedy series alleging that Romani NGOs want to “ban” it and have filed a lawsuit against it. The hoax first began spreading on Friday 8 February from a Facebook profile called “Marek Hollar, professional political scientist”.
The untrue post was shared almost 700 times within a couple of hours and many social network users have fallen for it. “PROPOSED INJUNCTION filed with the court: IMMEDIATE CANCELLATION OF THE BROADCASTING OF THE SERIES MOST. We are filing a motion for a preliminary injunction against the series MOST with representatives of the nonprofit sector, professional political scientists, political commentators and platforms for the elimination of racial, gender and social stereotypes,” reads the Facebook hoax.
“We are contacting court workers in front of the courthouse and playing the objectionable scenes for them from a tablet – unfortunately, we are frequently witnesses to situations in which even judges laugh at these ‘jokes’,” the post reads, followed by a supposed list of Romani nonprofit organizations that allegedly agree with the proposal for a ban. The list is taken from a previously-shared hoax about how many nonprofits are attempting to aid the Roma.
That particular list is fabricated and includes names for many organizations that simply do not exist. Despite the absolutely absurd text and wording of this post, many readers have fallen for it.
“What more is there to say? Whoever came up with this idea is just a dick. To ban a film nowadays? Why? Because lots of people are watching it? Or maybe because there are gypsies there? Certainly they didn’t act in the film against their will. You can shove this up your ass, go do something else, all you’ll get from this is a slap in the face. MOST FOREVER!!” a Facebook user called Lucie Nejedlová posted in response to the hoax.
Other people are attacking the supposed “organizations” on the list in the comments beneath the hoax. “Well, I say we should immediately ban all nonprofit organizations. I can’t believe what they are trying to make a case out of. They should raise money from volunteer donors. I really do not intend to give a single crown to them from my taxes. I call on the state apparatus to immediately stop subsidizing these freeloaders from our taxes. I believe I am not alone in this opinion,” a Facebook user called Roman Šrámek posted.
There are already vulgar commentaries posted not just beneath the post itself, but in the various groups to which it has been shared. “God, these people are morons!!! but I was waiting for somebody to speak up and ban it for racism. The gypsies will always just whine instead of admitting it’s true! they’re lame!!!!” a Facebook user called Lenka Drahošová posted to a group called Ústečáci sobě (“Ústecky Region sticks together”).
Other Facebook users are doing their best to explain to others that this is a hoax, but they are not exactly succeeding. “I get it that somebody is probably having a super time with this trolling, but unfortunately in a country where media literacy is almost at zero, the vast majority of readers will never understand that this was done in jest, or as a joke. On the contrary, most people now believe there are organizations here who want to ban the comedy series Most!. That is naturally absurd and a lie,” said Zdeněk Ryšavý, director of the actually-existing ROMEA organization, which is included on the list in the fake post.
This is not the first hoax or manipulation to be disseminated in association with Most! ROMEA had to refute the untrue allegation that they had demanded the actor Zdeněk Godla apologize for his use of the word “gypsy” in an interview.
The talk show host Jan Kraus even said ROMEA had forbidden the actor to use the word “gypsy”. That, too, was an absurd, untrue allegation.
