UNGREAT BRITAIN

How online misinformation stoked antimigrant riots across the U.K.

- ARMANI SYED

ONLINE MISINFORMATION ABOUT A TRIPLE murder sparked Britain's worst riots in 13 years, and an international debate about the failure of social media platforms to police hate speech and false reports.

The attacks targeted immigrants, and broke out in predominantly English towns and cities as well as Northern Ireland. Far-right groups were recorded looting, attacking police and locals, and performing Nazi salutes. Mobs chanting "Send them home" and "Islam out" destroyed mosques and graffitied racial slurs on homes. In some of the more violent instances, rioters stormed hotels housing asylum seekers. In one case, a fire was set while guests and staff were inside.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the violence as "far-right thuggery" and later called on large social media companies to police hate that is "whipped up online." Following an emergency Downing Street meeting on Aug. 5, Starmer pledged a "standing army" of 6,000 specialist officers to tackle violent outbreaks.

Hundreds of arrests were made in connection with the attacks, including for stirring racial hatred online. The uprisings were organized on social media following the spread of misinformation that the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in Southport, a town in northwest England, was carried out by a Muslim immigrant. The violence first erupted on July 30, near the scene of the stabbing, with hundreds of masked people gathering to throw bricks and rocks at a Southport mosque.