'I regret posting online that I was Madeleine McCann' - BBC News

Julia Wandelt tells the BBC about her motives and remorse after claiming to be the missing girl.

16 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsMadeleine McCann disappearanceImage caption, "I never meant to hurt anyone" says Julia WandeltBy Marianna SpringBBC disinformation and social media correspondentWhen Julia Wandelt posted on social media that she believed she was Madeleine McCann, she became a lightning rod for online anger. In the first of a new series of stories exploring extraordinary cases of online hate and the possibility of forgiveness, Julia reveals for the first time her motives and regrets.

As Julia Wandelt plays guitar to me in her bedroom in Poland, we're surrounded by teddy bears. One is bright pink, wearing a T-shirt that reads: "You Got This!"

It was a gift, the 22-year-old says, from some of her new followers. She got to know them after creating an Instagram account called @iammadeleinemccan - referring to the British girl who went missing in Portugal in 2007 but missing the final "n" from her surname.

Madeleine McCann's disappearance at the age of three - which remains unsolved - is one of the most widely reported in history. Online communities of obsessives have grown up around the case, and Julia's account was like petrol thrown onto a fire already burning across social media sites like Instagram, TikTok and X.

"I never meant to hurt anyone - including [the] McCanns," she told me. "I really wanted to know who I am."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68139294?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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