It originated, as many mystical events do, in Pakistan The creator of Pakistan-based website myspirithalloween.com which first spread news about Dublin’s non-existent Halloween parade says it was an embarrassing mistake rather than a deliberate hoax.
Thousands gathered on O’Connell Street in Dublin for a Halloween parade that was falsely advertised online, leading to confusion and disappointment among attendees. Some people in the crowd had travelled from France for the parade.
The rumours originated from myspirithalloween.com, which claimed the parade was organised by the Galway arts ensemble Macnas, despite it being unverified and misleading.
Nazir Ali, the owner of an SEO agency, said he was embarrassed and disappointed over accusations that his website scammed people by falsely advertising a Halloween parade in Dublin, emphasising it was not intentional. The site has been in operation for only three months and has uploaded 1,400 Halloween related articles, hoping to cash in on a Google ads by elevating the site to a top place on Google search.
He explained that his company creates content for various events globally and that the misinformation stemmed from an oversight; although the site relied on AI for content generation, human editors were heavily involved in the process.
Ali stated that their business model relies on Google Ads and affiliate marketing, and acknowledged the need for better verification of information before publishing due to the fallout from the incident.
He urged the public not to hastily judge the intentions behind their website, reiterating that they aim to provide authentic content and have had successful event listings in the past without issues.
Social media played a significant role in spreading the false information, with many people sharing the event on platforms like TikTok and Facebook, leading to large crowds forming despite there being no official confirmation.
Gardaí issued a statement urging people to disperse safely from the area.
