A Pakistan-based company has filed a demand after false information about a Halloween parade appeared on its website. After reading the wrong news, thousands of Irish citizens gathered for a parade that was never supposed to happen.
Thousands of people lined both sides of O’Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of Dublin, Ireland, on Thursday night to watch the parade.
The crowd had gathered to watch the giant Halloween puppets by Macnas, Galway’s leading performance group.
Meanwhile, the “Lovas” tram lines were also blocked.
But after a long time, no parade passed and the Dublin police began to disperse the crowd, leading to confusion and the suspicion of a scam.
The police informed the citizens that there is no Halloween parade taking place here as no one has taken permission for the event at this location. At which people were surprised and worried. Citizens and police soon realized that they had been fooled by online invitations.
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According to US media, the parade was announced by an artificial intelligence website called “My Spirit Halloween” hosted in Pakistan.
The website itself announced that the Halloween Day Parade was held on Thursday evening from 7pm to 9pm. The news of the parade was widely shared on social media platforms.
But Nazeer Ali, the man behind the website, clarified that it was a “human error”, with a team member accidentally reposting details of last year’s event.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Nazir Ali described the incident as unintentional and said, “We are deeply embarrassed and very sorry.”
While the mistake sparked laughter on social media, it also raised concerns over misinformation and AI deepfakes.
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Social Democrat MP Gary Gannon noted the dangers posed by online misinformation and compared it to deeply faked images of prominent figures.
He told RTÉ, warning of the future implications of unverified content, ‘it shows how easily misinformation can spread’.
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**Interview with John Murphy, Dublin Resident and Attendee of the Fake Halloween Parade**
**Editor:** Thank you for joining us today, John. Can you tell us about your experience on the night of what was supposed to be the Halloween parade?
**John Murphy:** Absolutely. I arrived at O’Connell Street around 7 PM, full of excitement with my friends. We were looking forward to seeing the costumes and the giant puppets that we heard would be part of the parade. There were so many people there; it felt like a real celebration!
**Editor:** It sounds like a festive atmosphere. Can you describe what happened when the parade didn’t arrive?
**John Murphy:** Well, after waiting for some time, we started to notice that something was off. People were checking their phones and wondering why there was no sign of the parade. I thought maybe it was running late, but as time went on, we realized it wasn’t happening at all. The police eventually came and began to disperse the crowd, saying there was no permission for any event that night.
**Editor:** That’s surprising! How did people react when they found out the event was fake?
**John Murphy:** There was a mix of confusion and anger. Some people felt embarrassed for being tricked, while others were frustrated. It was shocking to see so many of us led to believe there was going to be a parade based on what we found online. It slightly felt like a scam.
**Editor:** Have you heard any updates on who might be responsible for the misinformation?
**John Murphy:** Yes, I did hear that a Pakistan-based company was involved somehow and that they’ve filed a complaint. It really highlights the dangers of misinformation in today’s digital age.
**Editor:** Do you think there should be stricter regulations on online listings to prevent events like this from happening in the future?
**John Murphy:** Definitely! There needs to be a way to verify events before they’re posted online. It’s so easy for misinformation to spread, and as we saw, it caused a lot of disappointment and confusion for many people in Dublin.
**Editor:** Thank you for sharing your experience, John. We hope that all of this gets resolved, and that it serves as a lesson in the importance of verifying information online.
**John Murphy:** Thank you for having me.
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