WHEN does a tweet become fake news?

The marriage equality debate took its most emotive turn yet last week, when a poster allegedly seen in a Melbourne laneway sparked a vehement “I told you so” from the “Yes” campaign.

An image of the offensive poster, allegedly spotted in Heffernan Lane, went viral after it was tweeted by Dan Leach-McGill, prompting media reports that the posters were “plastered all over Melbourne”.

The sign urged Australians to “Stop The Fags” and claim that 92 per cent of children raised by gay parents are abused, 51 per cent have depression and 72 per cent are obese — statistics drawn from research which has been debunked.

But it has emerged that Mr Leach-McGill had not personally viewed the poster, which was sent to him by an unnamed friend — and attempts by journalists and the City of Melbourne to track one down came to naught.

Now Channel 10 has admitted to the cardinal sin of journalism: photoshopping an image of the poster onto a stock image of a bus stop in Europe, to use in its television coverage of the issue.

“The poster in question had been taken down when our film crew visited the laneway in question so we were forced to source a copy online,” a spokeswoman for the network said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, an oversight in briefing our graphics department interstate may have created a false impression about its size and location. This was not a deliberate attempt to mislead our audience, but a creative error which we regret.”

The poster, which depicts a child cowering below two people brandishing rainbow belts, lists statistics from a widely discredited study on children raised by same-sex couples. It has been traced back to the message board of a neo-Nazi website.

“This is the type of hateful and inaccurate material that the LGBTI community warned would be publicised during any kind of plebiscite on marriage equality,” Victorian Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton said last week, dubbing the posters “a clear sign that a respectful debate will be difficult” during the plebiscite campaign.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refused to ban such posters when he was grilled by 2DayFM hosts Em Rusciano and Harley Breen, saying that while the signs were “hurtful”, they were part of democratic debate.

“We’re in a democracy,” Mr Turnbull told the 2DayFM hosts. “People will often say in any democratic debate, they’ll often say things that are hurtful and unfair and sometimes cruel, that is part of a debate.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten responded on Facebook, writing: “This kind of garbage isn’t ‘debate’, it’s abuse. I’m so sorry that LGBTI Australians have to put up with it. Let’s make sure there’s an overwhelming ‘Yes’ vote in response.”

SECOND POSTER SIGHTED IN MELBOURNE

Confusion over the origin of the Heffernan Lane poster, and whether any more existed, has led to accusations that it may have been printed off by a member of the “Yes” lobby in an obscene attempt to “prove” that a plebiscite campaign could not be conducted respectfully.

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But the identity of the person who posted it in the laneway has not been established and, whatever its origin, it is not the only example of offensive campaign materials.

More #respectfuldebate pedalling vicious libel against my community. Every word is a lie (note subtle HIV reference). (URL pixelated) pic.twitter.com/rBrAoq2xPO — Paul Kidd 🗳🆈🅴🆂🏳️‍🌈 (@paulkidd) August 28, 2017

The neo-Nazi group Antipodean Resistance has claimed responsibility for a second, equally disturbing poster spotted in Melbourne, claiming that “gay marriage enables pedophilia”.

Melbourne woman Alice Berkeley told BuzzFeed News she had spotted the poster at a tram stop outside the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, while the publication’ reported that it had been sent “several shots of the new poster seen in Melbourne from multiple sources”.

And an offensive leaflet has been doing the rounds of Sydney’s south and inner west, making a number of outrageous claims in broken English and Chinese.

“Homosexuality is a tragedy of a family, a grave to the family bloodline, a curse of family sonlessness,” the leaflet reads.

“The number of victims being raped in public female changing rooms and bathrooms in those countries that has passed the Same Sex Marriage Legislation is a stunning fact to all!”

dana.mccauley@news.com.au

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