No, girls in Ireland are not under curfew - fake leaflet debunked

A leaflet saying that girls must stay indoors after 6pm has been debunked by both Reuters and the AP after a picture of it circulated on Twitter.

"Girls to stay indoors after 6pm (until further notice)," a picture of the pink leaflet says, according to several tweets.

“New arrivals to this area are not accustomed to Irish cultural norms at this transitionary time.

“Thank you for your compliance.”

The poster is falsely attributed to the Irish Centre for Diversity in partnership with "Ralltas nd hEireann," which is believed to be a misspelling of “Rialtas na hÉireann,” Irish for the Government of Ireland.

At least four tweets (here, here, here, and here) have shared a picture of the poster and its false information, drawing hundreds of thousands of views.

One of the tweets claimed the poster was being distributed in Ballymun in Dublin.

The Irish Centre for Diversity, which says it works "to deliver Investors in Diversity across Ireland," says it is not associated with the poster: "We are aware that a leaflet is being distributed in local areas and across social media.

"We are not associated with the leaflet in any way and the unauthorised use of our name has been reported to An Garda Síochána (Ireland's Police and Security Service)."

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána told AP: “An Garda Síochána are carrying out enquiries into the distribution of leaflets in the North Dublin area.

“An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time.”

Ireland’s Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth also confirmed to AP that the leaflet was not created or distributed by the Irish government and that there is no such curfew for girls.

“The Department strongly condemns such incidents of deliberate misinformation, which are clearly intended to create division and hostility."

Meanwhile, Ireland's Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media announced on February 21 the establishment of a multi-stakeholder working group to coordinate sectoral efforts to combat disinformation and provide a joined-up approach that aims to reduce the creation and spread of false and harmful material.

Minister @cathmartingreen welcomes establishment of multi-stakeholder working group to coordinate efforts to combat disinformation and which aims to reduce the creation and spread of false and harmful material

ℹ️ https://t.co/LaAWCKkmDg pic.twitter.com/GTmjEzJX0W

— Tourism-Culture-Arts-Gaeltacht-Sport-Media (@DeptCulturelRL) February 21, 2023

Welcoming the establishment of the working group, Minister Catherine Martin said: "We know that disinformation is complex and damaging. This means that no one approach can solve it.

"That’s why this working group has been established - to bring together key stakeholders across Government, industry, academia and civil society to develop an overarching Strategy to promote a joined-up approach that aims to reduce the creation and spread of false and harmful material.

"Amongst other things, the Working Group will look to review existing media literacy initiatives, identify tools and mechanisms to address disinformation, and identify ways to better coordinate national efforts to counter organised campaigns of manipulation of internet users in Ireland.

"The group meets for the first time on 24 February and it is intended that the final Strategy will be published by the end of 2023. As part of the process of developing the Strategy, there will be a public consultation.”