On June 12, a Facebook user known for frequently spreading false information, Maia Tvaltvadze, published a post claiming that Great Britain is banning bell-ringing for the first time in 100 years because of complaints from Muslims. The post is accompanied by a photo from an ITV News report, headlined, “Church bells fall silent for the first time in more than 100 years after noise complaints.”
On the same day, several Russian-language accounts (1, 2) shared posts with similar content, attributing the ban on bells to complaints from Muslims and describing the situation as a “decline of European civilization.”
The claim that Great Britain is banning bell-ringing because of complaints from the Muslim population is disinformation. In reality, the ringing of bells was temporarily halted at a specific church in West Yorkshire after some local residents expressed dissatisfaction with the noise. None of the media outlets covering the story linked the complaints to the Muslim community.
Itvcalendar and itvnews both reported that the bells of the church’s clock chimed every 15 minutes. After three local residents complained about the noise, the church decided to silence the chiming between 11pm and 7am. However, since the old clock mechanism could not silence the chimes for only part of the day, it was decided to temporarily silence them completely.
In fact, bell-ringing has not been banned in Great Britain. According to ITV News, locals found a solution by ordering a new mechanism for the clock, which will allow the bells to chime again during permitted hours. Neither ITV Calendar nor ITV News attributes the suspension of bell ringing to Muslims.
The story was also covered by other media outlets, including The Тelegraph, Daily Mail and the local publication Yorkshire Live, but none of them mention the identities or religious affiliations of complaining residents.
An article by LBC NEWS also notes that the majority of locals view the bell ringing as part of their daily lives and tradition and believe it should be reinstated by finding a solution that satisfies both parties.
Prepared by Tamuna Talakhadze
Myth Detector Lab
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