How Online Misinformation Stoked Anti-Migrant Riots in Britain
Police are aware of at least 100 far-right protests and 30 counter events planned across Britain this week following the stabbing death of three girls, the injury of 10 others, and misinformation regarding the assailant, Sky News reports.
TIME Magazine
Britain is facing its worst riots in 13 years, as a wave of violent anti-immigration protests sweep across the country. The uprisings began after the spread of misinformation online about a mass stabbing at a dance class in Southport that killed three young girls and left numerous others injured.
False reports of the July 29 incident said that the 17-year-old suspect, whose identity was initially concealed due to laws protecting minors, was a Muslim asylum seeker. That incorrect information sparked a wave of far-right protests and counter protests across the U.K. After mounting media pressure, a U.K. judge revealed the name of the suspect as Axel Rudakubana, who has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales, and is not Muslim.
More than 400 rioters have been arrested in connection with the violent protests, which broke out in predominantly English towns and cities, but also in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Far-right groups were seen looting, attacking police and locals, and performing Nazi salutes in the street. As the mobs chanted “send them home” and “Islam out,” they also destroyed mosques, a library, and graffitied racial slurs on homes.
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