Keyboard warrior, 35, who earned £1,400 a month from his X account is jailed for three years after... (original) (raw)

Keyboard warrior, 35, who earned £1,400 a month from his X account is jailed for three years after 'instigating' riots with posts - sparking questions for owner Elon Musk over his site's content

Published: 06:58 EST, 18 August 2024 | Updated: 07:01 EST, 18 August 2024

A 'keyboard warrior' whose social media post calling for people to riot had 1.7million views has been jailed for three years.

Carer Wayne O'Rourke, 35, who had more than 90,000 followers on X and earned around £1,400 a month from it, posted a number of times expressing support for recent protests.

He also offered advice to rioters on how to remain anonymous.

Among his posts on 29 July was a reference to the death of three children in Southport alleging it was a terrorist attack carried out by a Muslim.

A further post read: 'People of Southport where the f**k are you, get out on the street.' That post had 1.7 million views, the court was told.

Other posts showed a picture of the County Road mosque in Liverpool and a picture of burning car in Sunderland.

Carer Wayne O'Rourke, 35, has been jailed for three years for 'instigating' riots with posts

Other posts showed a picture of the County Road mosque in Liverpool and a picture of burning car in Sunderland. Pictured: Rioting taking place in County Road, Liverpool

How can you earn money on social media platform 'X'?

Social media platform 'X', formerly known as Twitter, doesn't directly pay users per view but there are ways to generate income on the platform.

However, users need at least 500 followers and 5million organic impressions each month to access X's monetization options.

Sponsored content: Many brands look for influencers with large followings to promote their products through posts

Affilitate marketing: By sharing product links and earning commission on sales generated through referrals.

Subscriptions: 'X' allows for a user's most engaged followers to subscribe to exclusive content behind a paywall.

Source: Forbes

This was accompanied by a post which read: 'Sunderland, go on lads '

Another post read: 'Starmer has basically said it us against them. Hold the line.'

Other posts read: 'Numbers are important' and 'give them hell lads.'

O'Rourke's X profile was accompanied by a picture of a bulldog wearing a Union Jack jacket.

In interview O'Rourke admitted receiving around £1,400 a month in payments for his account.

X users with more than 500 followers can earn money from positing videos or from sponsored content and affiliate marketing.

O'Rourke of Salix Approach, Lincoln, admitted publishing written material online to stir up racial hatred between 28 July and 8 August.

The court heard O'Rourke had no previous convictions but was cautioned for fraud in 2018.

Lucia Harrington, mitigating, said O'Rourke did not set up his account with the intention of encouraging such material and became 'caught up in the media frenzy'.

Miss Harrington said O'Rourke had previously worked as a parcel sorter but left work to become the carer for his partner who suffered from fibromyalgia.

She added that O'Rourke now wanted to re-educate himself about things that he had got wrong.

Rioters descended on County Road in Liverpool causing major damage

Passing sentence Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told O'Rourke: 'You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it.'

Judge Catarina Knight added: 'The flames fanned by keyboard warriors like you.'

The Judge also made it clear she did not accept O'Rourke's claim in interview that it was dark humour.

Judge Sjolin Knight asked O'Rourke directly: 'Where is the humour I ask you Mr O'Rourke?'