False Information Online Stirs Up Tensions and Riots in UK After Stabbing Attack
An assailant stabbed and killed three children during a summer holiday dance and yoga class in Southport, England, on 29 July, injuring 10 other people in the attack. On 1 August, British prosecutors said they charged a 17-year-old with murder and attempted murder over the attack, but the charges come after Southport experienced a wave of far-right violence fueled by misinformation about the attacker.
Less than two hours after a 30 July memorial event for the three children killed in the stabbing, hundreds of rioters flooded the streets of Southport, throwing bricks at a mosque, attacking police, setting cars on fire, and damaging a convenience store, The New York Times reported. The attacks were spurred by online misinformation about the attacker, including an incorrect name and falsehoods about his immigration status. More than 50 police officers were injured in the violence.
Police pushed back against the claims, including issuing a statement that the alleged attacker was born in Cardiff, Wales. A judge even took the unusual step of allowing the teenaged suspect’s name to be shared publicly, lifting restrictions on the media’s ability to report on the identity of an underaged suspect. But false information continued to spread, stoking anger even outside of Southport.
Violent unrest spread into several towns this weekend in the UK, with some of the worst riots affecting Manchester, Hartlepool, and London. The Metropolitan Police Service said it arrested 111 people during the riots, including some individuals who were armed with knives or other weapons.
In Rotherham, people inside a Holiday Inn Express had to push refrigerators and other furniture against a door to create a makeshift barrier to stop rioters from entering and attacking asylum seekers who were staying at the hotel, the BBC reported. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, cars and buildings were set on fire on 3 August after rioters marched on a Muslim community center.
Right-wing demonstrations have started to draw counter-protests by antiracist protesters, and the two groups have clashed at multiple sites, with police in the middle of the fray.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the creation of a nationwide unit that would enable police forces to share intelligence to crack down on groups that travel the country to create violent disturbances.
“The far right is showing who they are; we have to show who we are,” Starmer said at a news conference. “This is coordinated, this is deliberate, this is not a protest that got out of hand.”
"This is not protest, it is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities," Keir Starmer says
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) August 5, 2024
"The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part," the PM adds
Follow live https://t.co/brzlMnsMw0 pic.twitter.com/rZn8vP2eYB
Starmer warned social media companies—where much of the misinformation was being spread and amplified—that “violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
Although the UK has an Online Safety Act that requires social media companies to add protections for child safety and rapidly remove illegal content, the law is less clear about how the companies must treat misinformation and incendiary language, the Times explained.
British policymakers said the UK must address false information spread online.
“I see it almost every single day—straight-up lies about these situations designed to cause violence, to incite racial hatred, to incite people to violence,” said Jonathan Brash, a member of Parliament from Hartlepool, on BBC Radio 4. “There is so much misinformation and it’s being spread quite deliberately to stoke tension in communities.”
For more on mis- and disinformation and the risks they can pose to organizations’ and individuals’ security, check out Security Management’s past coverage:
- Does Your Crisis Preparedness Plan Need to Change for Deepfake Threats?
- Combatting the Rising Threat of Deepfakes in Today's Digital Landscape
- In a Vital Election Year, Disinformation Woes Top the Chart of Global Risks
- Redesigning Pandora’s Box: Another Reason to Leave Siloed Security Behind
- Fast Facts: 4 Forces Behind Polarization
