Friday, August 02, 2024

UK rocked by far-right riots fueled by online disinformation about Southport stabbings

Kara Fox, CNN
Thu, August 1, 2024

Far-right demonstrations turned violent for a second night across England Wednesday, in the wake of this week’s mass stabbing in Southport – the worst attack on children in the country in recent history.

While a community continues to grieve the murder of three young girls, far-right agitators have mobilized around online misinformation and hateful, anti-migrant and anti-Muslim narratives – fueling disorder in London, Manchester and the northeastern town of Hartlepool.

Chaotic scenes unfolded in the capital on Wednesday night, with protesters from the “Enough is Enough” demonstration throwing bottles and cans at police, and hurling flares toward the gates of Downing Street while chanting far-right, anti-Islam slogans, including, “We want our country back.”


In Manchester, demonstrators wearing balaclavas gathered outside a hotel that houses asylum seekers, and in Hartlepool, police cars were set ablaze by a mob who carried sticks and pelted officers with objects.

More than 100 people in London were arrested for “violent disorder” and an “assault on an emergency worker,” according to the city’s Metropolitan Police. There were two arrests in Manchester, and eight in Hartlepool, according to police there.

The violence follows Tuesday’s night of unrest in the northwest English town of Southport, where a group of far-right protesters hurled bricks at a mosque, set cars and police vehicles on fire and clashed with police barely an hour after a peaceful vigil for Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9) was held across town.

Eight other children suffered stab wounds in the attack and five of them are in critical condition. Two adults also remain in critical condition after being injured in the attack, police said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the scenes, saying the protesters “hijacked” the community’s grief.

Far-right demonstrators chanted anti-migrant, anti-Muslim slogans at the London rally that turned violent on Wednesday. - Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images

Met police superintendent Neil Holyoak said that while “it is understandable the public have strong feelings” about the Southport stabbings, “the subsequent violent, unlawful disorder that unfolded was completely unacceptable and driven by misinformation.”

Shortly after Monday’s attack, far-right groups began to circulate a false name for the alleged attacker across social media, and falsely claimed that he was an asylum seeker.

The suspect is a 17-year-old from Banks, Lancashire. He was born in Cardiff, Wales, according to police.

Axel Rudakubana, who was charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder, was named on Thursday after a judge lifted reporting restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the attack, however, before the suspect’s name had been released, the false name had already received over 30,000 mentions from more than 18,000 unique accounts on X alone – and was amplified by prominent far-right leaders, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

That false name had been also recommended to users through X’s algorithm, and was trending as a top recommended search result for users under the “What’s happening” sidebar.

Tim Squirrell, ISD’s director of Communications and Editorial, told CNN that after any attack, there are always people speculating about the suspect’s ethnicity and religion.

“White nationalists will seize on any opportunity to spread misinformation about Muslims, about anyone who’s not White. So they were immediately on it – and were happy to spread basically whatever would confirm their presuppositions about who had done it,” he said.

Whether it was a malicious actor, or whether it was someone who was looking for “clicks,” is unclear, Squirrell added. “But we do know that the name that they gave out was made up… and that all the details are completely made up.”

Squirrell pointed to the fact that the viral posts about the alleged attacker said that he was on a watch list for MI6, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service. However, MI5 – MI6’s internal counterpart – is the organization responsible for fighting domestic terrorism. “They gave out details that were basically designed to pick up the attention of the far-right, and also for anyone who is concerned about migration,” he said.

Algorithms tend to favor emotive, sensationalist, outrageous, engaging content – because they are based on engagement.

“Things that people on the far-right – or people who are interested in peddling misinformation as a way of getting engagement – tend to post things that will appeal to the algorithm,” Squirrell said. He added that, while the algorithm played a part, there was also a “huge amount of organizing happening” in a variety of different places that are not algorithmically oriented – for example in far-right groups on the instant-messaging platform Telegram.

Such Telegram groups have been instrumental in organizing these demonstrations.

Hope Not Hate, a UK advocacy group that campaigns against racism and fascism, identified one of the first Telegram groups that appeared on the encrypted social media network just hours after the Southport stabbings.

Like what was being shared on X and other platforms, the Telegram group “Southport Wake Up,” also posted false information about the alleged suspect. Hours after the attack, the group’s creator sent out the details for the first protest: Meet near a Southport mosque on Tuesday.

It was there that the violence began.

The “Southport Wake Up” group is still active, and on Thursday, posted calls for similar disruptions at Muslim centers in other cities across England.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Starmer was set to meet with senior police leaders in London on Thursday.

In a statement, Downing Street said: “While the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs, he will be clear that criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law.”

CNN’s Jessie Gretener, Duarte Mendonça, Ivana Kottasová and Radina Gigova contributed to this article.

PM Starmer warns social media firms after Southport misinformation fuels UK riots

Alistair Smout
Thu, August 1, 2024 

British PM Starmer holds meeting on clashes following Southport stabbing, in London

By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned social media companies that they must uphold laws that prohibit the incitement of violence online after misinformation around a fatal mass stabbing earlier in the week sparked violent scenes.

A 17-year-old boy appeared in an English court on Thursday charged with the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a summer dance class in Southport that has shocked the nation and sparked two nights of violent protests.


The disturbances followed the rapid spread of false information on social media that the suspect in the stabbings was a radical Islamist migrant, with anti-immigrant protesters descending on Southport from elsewhere, attacking police and targeting a mosque.

Starmer said that the disturbances were not legitimate protests, saying it was criminal disorder that was "clearly driven by far-right hatred" before adding a warning to tech companies.

"Let me also say to large social media companies, and those who run them, violent disorder clearly whipped up online: that is also a crime. It's happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere," he said at a news conference, adding there was a "balance to be struck" in handling such platforms.

"It's an amazing opportunity that we all enjoy... There is also a responsibility that goes with it. That's a space for a mature conversation to take place."

BLIZZARD OF FALSE INFORMATION

Campaign group Hope Not Hate said that the riot in Southport on Tuesday followed a "blizzard of false information around the attack, much of it circulated by far-right accounts online."

The 17-year-old suspect was not initially named due to rules regarding children who are charged with crimes, before a judge then ruled that media could name him as Axel Rudakubana. He turns 18 next week and police have said he was born in Cardiff.

But a claim that the suspect was an asylum seeker or immigrant has been viewed at least 15.7 million times across X, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, a Reuters analysis showed.

A false claim that he was an undocumented migrant who arrived in a small boat appeared on the website "Channel 3 Now", who later apologised for publishing information that was misleading and not accurate.

Internet personality Andrew Tate on Tuesday shared a picture of a man he said was responsible for the attack with the caption "straight off the boat", but the claim was also incorrect as it was a picture of a 51-year-old man arrested for a separate stabbing in Ireland last year.

Separately, a Channel 4 analysis showed that 49% of traffic on social media platform X referencing 'Southport Muslim' - in reference to an unevidenced claim about the attacker's religion - came from the United States, with 30% coming from Britain.

Police have said the incident was not being treated as terror-related, and have urged people not to speculate on details while the investigation continues.

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Party, on Tuesday said he wondered "whether the truth is being withheld from us" as he questioned why the incident wasn't being treated as terror-related and asked if the suspect had been monitored by security services.

After criticism from several people including Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner, accusing Farage of stoking conspiracy theories, Farage said he thought his "gentle questions" were fair and reasonable while adding that the internet had at the same time been awash with unfounded theories.

Starmer declined to be drawn into commenting on what Farage had said, reiterating that his focus was on the families and police officers impacted.

But Starmer warned that any misinformation that interfered in the work of authorities could jeopardise attempts to hold a fair trial.

"The price for a trial that is prejudiced is ultimately paid by the victims and their families who are deprived of the justice that they deserve," he said.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, additional reporting by Rachael Kennedy, Kylie MacLellan and Sam Tobin; Editing by Toby Chopra)


 


Starmer blames far-Right for Southport riots


Charles Hymas
Thu, August 1, 2024 

Sir Keir Starmer has blamed the far-Right for the violent protests that have broken out across the country following the Southport stabbings.

The Prime Minister said that he would “not permit, under any circumstances, a breakdown in law and order on our streets” amid warnings that the country faces a summer of riots.

It follows disorder in Southport, London and Hartlepool in the wake of the killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday.

On Thursday, the 17-year-old accused of murder was named as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, who was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff before moving to Banks, in Lancashire.

The protests had been fuelled by speculation online about the attacker and his motives, including inaccurate claims that he was an asylum seeker.

Police are understood to have intelligence that the far-Right and unaligned hooligans intent on violence were planning to stir up more public disorder, including at the weekend and for most of the summer.


Hartlepool was among the towns to see rioting this summer - BACKGRID UK

Announcing a new violent disorder unit at a press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said the Government would ensure the threat was met with “the most robust response in the coming days and weeks”.

Asked whether the country faced a summer of riots, he said: “It’s obvious to me, and I think anybody looking in, that as far as the far-Right is concerned this is coordinated. This is deliberate. This is not a protest that has got out of hand. It is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence.

“I’ve just held a meeting with senior police and law enforcement leaders, where we resolved to show we are a country that will not allow understandable fear to curdle into division and hate in our communities, and that will not permit – under any circumstances – a breakdown in law and order on our streets.

“Because let’s be very clear about this – it’s not protest, it’s not legitimate. It’s crime, violent disorder, an assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice. And so on behalf of the British people who expect their values and their security to be upheld, we will put a stop to it.”

A police source said: “We have intelligence that they are planning to do more, for this weekend and for most of the summer. It is coordinated. It is not spontaneous at all. Some are EDL, some are more extreme far-Right. Then you have a cohort of people who are just obsessed with violence.”


Far-Right protests extended to the capital - Heathcliff O'Malley for the Telegraph

The new national violent disorder unit was agreed after a Downing Street summit with police chiefs and ministers. The unit will enable all 43 police forces across England and Wales to better share intelligence on potential protest hotspots so extra officers specially trained in public order can be dispatched to those areas.

British Transport Police (BTP) will monitor passenger flows to identify unusual surges in travellers with information gathered used as an early warning sign for forces to prepare for any influx of potentially violent protesters.

Mobile facial recognition cameras, which are currently only used in London and by a handful of other forces, will be deployed at protests to identify troublemakers who may be wanted for other offences or have previous convictions.
Travel bans

Police forces are to be issued with new guidance, specifically on violent disorder, which will advise them to use criminal behaviour orders on protesters convicted of disorder. These can impose travel bans with breaches carrying a penalty of up to five years in jail. They may be applied retrospectively to those already convicted.

The guidance will set out officers’ current powers and range of public order offences that can be used to arrest and prosecute troublemakers including protesters who use masks to hide their identities.

Officers will be deployed at stations to exploit railway bylaws that will enable them to stop anyone suspected of being drunk or disruptive from travelling to a protest.

Sir Keir said: “These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community. We must have a policing response that can do the same.”

Nearly all of the 16 people so far arrested for disorder at the protests in Southport and Hartlepool are from the local or nearby areas, despite claims that many of the demonstrators were outsiders.


One of those arrested in Hartlepool was an 11-year-old boy, it emerged late on Thursday. The child was arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight on Wednesday.

Police believe they have enough officers trained in public order and with sufficient powers but do not have the coordinated intelligence picture to deploy them at hot spots.

“We have to wean ourselves off the idea that the only response is to pass more legislation every time we have a challenge in front of us,” said Sir Keir. “It is about using the existing powers that we’ve got, pulling together intelligence, the data, making sure that that is being shared across police forces.”

The Prime Minister also warned social media companies to take action following the sharing of misinformation about the Southport suspect. Tech firms are expected to take down any illegal content.

“Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere,” he said.

The need to counter this type of speculation was cited in the decision to name the suspect a week before his 18th birthday.


Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, has been named as the suspect in the Southport murder case

Judge Andrew Menary KC, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, said he had to balance risk to the suspect’s family and initial risk to him while in custody with the public interest in accurately reporting his identity to quell misinformation that has been fuelling disorder.

He said: ‘By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days’ time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.

“Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.”

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