New York: Users of social media have accused mainstream news organisations in the United States of hypocrisy over their initial coverage of the shooting deaths of three young Muslims, adopting the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter to highlight their anger.

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot and killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Tuesday afternoon.

A 46-year-old man, Craig Stephen Hicks, who had posted anti-religious messages as well as images of a gun on Facebook in recent weeks, has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

By mid-morning on Wednesday users on Twitter were criticising the lack of prominence the story was being given by major news organisations, questioning whether the response would have been the same - and if the crime would have been described as terrorism - if the alleged shooter had been Muslim and the victims were non-Muslims.