Revealed: popular Facebook groups that are driving radicalisation in UK

An online network of far-right Facebook groups are exposing hundreds of thousands of Britons to racist and extremist disinformation and have become an “engine of radicalisation”, a Guardian investigation reveals.

- Raphael Hernandes,Elena Morresi, Robyn Vinter

Run by otherwise ordinary members of the public, the groups are a hotbed of hardline anti-immigration and racist language, where online hate goes apparently unchecked.

Experts who reviewed the Guardian's months-long data project said such groups helped to create an online environment that could radicalise people into taking extreme actions, such as last year's summer riots. The network has been exposed weeks after 150,000 people from across the UK descended on London for a far-right protest, which shocked politicians in its size and toxicity.

The groups were identified by the Guardian's data unit from the profiles of those who took part in the riots that followed the killing of three girls in Southport last summer. From them emerged an ecosystem where mainstream politicians are described as “treacherous”, “traitors” and “scum”. Both the courts and police engage in “two-tier” justice. The RNLI is a “taxi service”.

More than 51,000 text posts were analysed by the Guardian from three of the largest public groups in the network, with a total of 267,000 members. This found hundreds of concerning posts which, experts say, are peppered with misinformation and conspiracy theories, and contain far-right tropes, racist slurs and evidence of white nativism.

The combined membership of the 16 groups in the network was 611,289 as recorded by the Guardian's methodology on 29 July 2025. However, this figure almost certainly includes double counting as people can be members of more than one group.