A teacher was subject to a viral hate campaign after a manipulated video of her campaigning for Labour falsely implied she had used racist language.
The video, taken on a Ring doorbell in Dudley, used subtitles to suggest the woman had used a slur against Pakistani people. It went viral on social media and was promoted by Akhmed Yakoob, the independent candidate who came third in the West Midlands mayoral elections.
Labour said it had employed an external digital forensics company, which found the video had been manipulated. Qasim Mughal, a Dudley Labour councillor who is a friend of the teacher and had been campaigning alongside her at the time the comments were filmed, has strongly denied the teacher used the language. Police have examined the video and found no evidence of abuse.
Yakoob promoted the video on TikTok and X, where he has hundreds of thousands of followers, including a follow-up video that included the woman’s name and the school where she teaches. The post went viral on TikTok and WhatsApp, where it is especially difficult to stop the spread of content.
Yakoob, a solicitor who plans to run for parliament at the next election, told Birmingham Live he had not intended to cause distress, and the video was difficult to hear. At the time of writing it was still live on his Instagram stories.
Labour said the manipulated video was deeply concerning. “Manipulated digital assets pose a threat to the community cohesion we work hard to foster, as well as to the integrity of the democratic process,” the party said.
The analysis of the video, which examined the waveforms and audio playback speeds, suggested there had been changes to the volume in the second section of the video where the alleged racist comments were made.
The woman is seen to go to a door and ask the resident whether they had voted for Labour, to which the resident replies that he voted for Yakoob. The subtitles in the video suggest she utters the racist slur as she walks away.
Mughal said the woman had been saying she did not understand the resident’s reply, and then began reading out the house number for the next door knock.
Forensic analysis found that the volume of the alleged racist comments was discernibly louder than the question “who did he vote for?” asked by the other male canvasser in the video, which suggested it had been altered. It found the subtitles were not correct and the alleged language was not used.
Mughal said he first knew about the viral video when his friend and colleague, who is not a party member and had been helping him canvass for the first time, called him in “flood of tears thinking her life was over”.
“This could have been career-ending. And it will still have many repercussions for her emotional state. This will be a long process for her,” he said. “It doesn’t even make sense from a logical perspective – she was campaigning for myself, a Pakistani-heritage candidate. To come out and say those words when I’m right there just wouldn’t make any sense.”
He added: “This could have happened to absolutely anyone. And I do worry that it will have an impact on people wanting to come out and campaign in future.”
He said he does not think the audio sounds like the words being alleged but that a degree of confirmation bias led to people believing it. “If someone tells you you’re going to hear something, automatically your brain is looking out for that. And that’s exactly what happened in this video,” he said.
Mughal said Yakoob should put out a public statement apologising for sharing the video and making sure his followers understand that the subtitles were incorrect.
“If he has any ounce of remorse for what he’s done, he needs to own it. He needs to apologise and say he got this wrong,” said Mughal. “The allegations made are categorically untrue, and we cannot forget there is a person at the centre of this who is facing real-life consequences for Yakoob’s actions.”He said: “It is concerning that he was a candidate running for public office just a few days ago and has now shared false information on social media which has led to death threats and hate speech.”
Labour politicians have condemned the use of the video.
Jim McMahon, the shadow levelling up minister, said: “More toxicity, more smears, another innocent campaigner targeted and harassed. Now pretty routine in British politics. Grim.”
Yakoob has been contacted for comment. A Labour source said: “That Akhmed Yakoob thinks he can lead a pile-on on an innocent woman and remain a parliamentary candidate speaks volumes about how unsuitable he is to be a public representative.”
Stuart Bathurst Catholic High school, where the woman works, said the incident was “very distressing for all concerned.”
A spokesperson for West Midlands police said it had obtained the original audio and examined it. “We have found no evidence of any racist slurs or language used. The canvasser has received significant abuse as a result of the footage being released on social media, which is distressing. She has been fully updated regarding our findings and offered our support.”
