The Ministry of the Interior began examining the pages that called for the battle of Batman Helwan, scheduled for August 13, which began with a satirical publication of a young man who described himself as “Batman.”
The unexpected story began with the Facebook post of a young man, who was surprised with the large number of reactions both from his friends and acquaintances, each of them confirming that he is “Batman”.
The story turned into a hashtag widely circulated in which a large number of artists and celebrities took part.
Monitoring
Security sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the information technology sector of the Interior Ministry examined the pages calling for the Batman Helwan battle four days ago.
This was after monitoring the large amounts of continuous interaction on the site and they are trying to find out the identity of the people behind the invitation.
The Real Batman Battle
“The story began with social media users in Cairo circulating news of a fierce battle that will take place in the city of Helwan to decide who the real Batman is,” the sources added.
The story began with a satirical post by a young man who said that he was “Batman”, and many of his friends interacted with him, to confirm each that he was “Batman.”
A friend suggested setting an appointment on August 13 at 11 pm so that whoever claims to be Batman will meet in this decisive battle in Helwan.
Thousands interacted with the alleged story, and launched a hashtag under the title “The Real Batman Battle.” A Facebook group was launched, gathering more than 20,000 members, and creators launched an invitation for the event which garnered nearly 40,000 interested followers.
A number of celebrities, most notably the Egyptian actor Mohamed Henedy, published a picture of him with the “Batman” mask, and the Egyptian actor Sayed Ragab used the hashtag with a picture on which he commented: “Teacher Saqr tells you that the real Batman has arrived.”
The security services also monitored the launch of a number of other related hashtags, including #The Real_Batman, #To_Helwan, and #Batman_Organic.
Writer, researcher and historian Mohamed Amir commented on the story through his Facebook account, and wrote: “The story began with a post between two ordinary friends on Facebook, with one saying that he is Batman out of nowhere, so one of his friends responded telling him that he is a liar and that he was The Real Batman. A third one joined the fuss and said he was the Real Batman.”
He added: “A quarrel started in the comments, and one decided that he would end this dispute with a very clever comment saying this issue will not be resolved in any other way: Everyone who believes he is Batman will meet in Helwan on August 13 at 11 pm, and whoever remains alive is the Real Batman.”
A person created an event called the “Real Batman Helwan Battle” on Facebook so that those joining would gather. The event said participants should wear a Batman suit to join the battle.
The event attracted thousands of attendees and celebrities including Henedy downloaded his picture with a Batman mask saying he was the Real Batman, Amir added.
Girls created an event on Facebook as well called the Real Batwoman to join while others said they will wear the “Joker” and attack the Real Batman, he said.
“A strange fight and atmosphere that no one understands. Things that only happen in Egypt,” Amir concluded.
Who is Batman?
Batman is a superhero who appeared in American comic books published by DC Comics.
The character was created by American book writers Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The character first appeared in May 1939. He appeared in the 27th issue of Detective Comics in 1939, and since then he, Superman and Spider-Man have become the most famous fictional superheroes, all of whom have appeared in successful films.
An expert comments and warns
Mustafa Abu Gamra, an IT expert, commented on the story, saying: “The idea actually started with a nice joke among young people.”
Normally, a hashtag is used in e-marketing, but the Muslim Brotherhood’s members on social media took advantage of the popularity of the Batman battle hashtag, according to Abu Gamra.
“The combination of virtual and real is the danger,” he said.
Abu Gamra continued, during a telephone interview with presenter Lamees al-Hadidi, on the “ON” channel, on Monday evening, that the problem is that the majority of young people interacting with the hashtag are between 13-14 years old.
“They are young and do not know what is happening, and the hashtag can attract them to interact with it spontaneously, possibly putting themselves at risk,” he continued.
He added: “With the expansion of social media, we now have ‘e-committees’, and I fear for the safety of young people who will go to watch and participate in Batman Helwan events. We must warn people, do not let anyone of your children go at this time to Helwan.”
