Rumours are spreading across Facebook that a Tesco store in Oak Street in London refused to serve a solider in uniform because it might offend Muslims.
The assertion that offending Muslims has caused – or prevented – certain things from happening is a popular rumour propagated by the far right, and it’s rarely based on any truth.
Claims that Christmas decorations are being banned, or that national football shirts are being banned or even that memorial poppies are being culled are a few examples of rumours that have spread virally across social media, all falsely attributing offending Muslims as their cause, despite being wholly untrue.
So it’s no surprise then that this rumour is equally false. There are no sources cited by the message to back up its spurious claim, and the message even fails to include the correct image. The picture of Tesco in the image is actually Tesco’s in Stroud Green.
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Additionally Tesco’s have announced that they are aware of the hoax after queries on social media, and that they don’t even have a store on Oak Street.
@nick_delahay Hi Nick, We can confirm that we do not have a store on 'Oak Street' in London and this did not happen. – James
— Tesco (@Tesco) January 14, 2015
The rumour is being circulated by a small number of social media users. However since it is completely untrue, and just one of a number of hoaxes aimed at causing racial tension, we do not recommend circulating.
