A VIDEO VIEWED on social media millions of times is falsely said to show a kidnapping in East Wall, Dublin.

The video shows two men walking on a path alongside a child of primary school age. The Journal has confirmed that it was filmed in East Wall in Dublin by comparing road and building features with images from Google Maps.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that the video shows a kidnapping or any other offence; Gardaí told The Journal they investigated the incident shown and that no such crime had occurred.

Nevertheless, the video was shared widely, along with claims that it shows how Irish children are being snatched by migrants.

A screenshot from the video in which no crime is shown to have occurred.

One version of the video was posted to the social media platform X on 26 August with the caption “BREAKING: Social media reports that these two migrants were just arrested in Dublin attempting to kidnap a young boy caught on camera.”

That video has been viewed more than 1.8 million times to date, according to statistics on X.

More posts on X featuring the video followed, using much stronger language in their descriptions of what they alleged had happened, including highly defamatory claims about the two men shown in the clip.

Repeating racist tropes commonly shared on social media by anti-migrant accounts, one of the posts referred to the two men as being from the “dark continent, which offers NOTHING to civilization”.

That post that has been viewed more than 62,300 times to date.

Another post, viewed 17,400 times to date, made the further claims that the men were “Islamic” (there is nothing in the video to indicate this), warning: “They’re not just coming for your daughters, they’re also coming for your sons.”

All those posts were published by accounts with blue ticks, meaning that they are eligible to be paid if their posts get enough engagement.

A few hours later, the same video was posted to Facebook with the caption: “TWO MIGRANTS CAUGHT KIDNAPPING BOY IN DUBLIN, IRELAND seen on CCTV taking a child in East Wall in Dublin near Temple bar. Police got them and the boy. How can this continue? Our children are at risk all over Europe.”

The post has been seen more than 4.1 million times to date, according to figures on Facebook.

Claims that the video shows a kidnapping, however, have already been investigated and rejected by gardaí.

“Gardaí conducted enquiries into the matter,” an email from a Garda spokesperson to The Journal said. “I can confirm that no criminal offence occurred matching this description.”

Claims that non-Irish people pose a danger to children are regularly spread in anti-migrant groups. In July, such a claim led to the racist assault in Tallaght of an Indian man who was baselessly accused of exposing himself to children.

The Journal has debunked multiple false claims that non-Irish people have attempted to kidnap children since the start of the year. 

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