Oxford County, its picturesque towns, its brick houses, its university, its green fields and now a crazy rumor that goes around. Elected officials in this central England county have received threats on social media as the idea of mounting a “climate lockdown” has spread in recent days.
“The messages are coming from all over the world,” said Duncan Enright of Oxford County Council’s transport and development strategy office.
On November 29, Oxford County Council approved a new traffic plan to limit rush hour traffic on the busiest roads.
Thus, six traffic plans have been proposed to “reduce traffic, expedite bus travel, and ensure the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists,” the county writes on its website.
The city council has raised the idea of carrying out leaks with cameras in six points of the city of Oxford, the owners of private vehicles must have a permit of passage.
The rumor of a confrontation of motorists
Quickly, a rumor spread on social networks, that of a “climate confinement” of the residents of his neighborhood. Specifically, the voices evoke a measure that would limit movement in the city center with “15 minute” zones, that is, zones where movement is limited in time.
These rumors also speak of the installation of barriers with sensors to control the comings and goings of motorists. Finally, the residents of these six areas will have to ask the authorities for permission to leave their neighborhood, as written on social networks.
Conspiracy rumors evoke a form of surveillance of motorists thanks to the issuance of these permits and access controls in the center of the city.
Denial of local elected officials
Except it’s nothing. “All areas of the city will continue to be accessible by car to people, and there will be no electronic or other physical barriers on the roads,” a county council spokesman from Oxford told AFP on December 8.
“The entire city will continue to be accessible by car, although some private vehicles will potentially have to take an alternative route during the hours of operation of the traffic restrictions,” it added.
However, the rumor has circulated as far as Canada, the United States and even Australia, leading some to believe that it is real. “People have approached me and asked: ‘Is it true that they are not going to let us out of our houses, that it will be like a lockdown during the coronavirus epidemic?'” Emily Kerr, a member of the BBC, testifies from the Oxford Town Hall.
Emails, SMS and even calls, the local elected officials who proposed this experiment that should last six months have received numerous threats. In a joint statement from Oxford County Council and City Council, the two authorities condemned the posts and said they had reported the most threatening ones to local police.
Source: BFM TV
