THE news of the brutal murder of an 11-year-old boy in Spain has been used by the far-right to stir up racial tensions.
Young Mateo was stabbed 11 times while playing football with friends at a sports centre in Mocejon, Toledo on Sunday.
A 20-year-old Spaniard has since confessed to the crime and police are now working on corroborating his version of events and locating the murder weapon.
However in the 36 hours leading up to his arrest, social media was awash with disinformation about the killer.
A number of far-right figures, including neo-Nazis, began spreading false claims, blaming the atrocity on young boat migrants without any factual basis.
The grieving family of Mateo was forced to release a statement to the media to deny the claims, pleading that ‘no one be criminalised for their race or skin colour.’
One tweet claiming to be a quote from the residents of …