By Alistair Smoot
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned social media companies to respect laws banning incitement to violence online after misinformation about a deadly mass stabbing earlier this week sparked violent scenes.
A 17-year-old man appeared in an English court on Thursday accused of killing three young girls in a knife attack at a summer dance class in Southport that shocked the nation and sparked two nights of violent protests.
The unrest followed the rapid spread of false information on social media that the suspect in the stabbings was a radical Islamic immigrant, with anti-immigration protesters descending on Southport from elsewhere, attacking police and targeting a mosque.
Starmer said the unrest was not legitimate protests, but criminal disorder “clearly driven by far-right hatred”, before adding a warning to tech companies.
“Let me also say to the big social media companies, and those who run them, that violent unrest that is clearly being incited online: this is also a crime. It is happening on your premises, and the law must be respected everywhere,” he said at a news conference, adding that a “balance” must be struck in dealing with such platforms.
“It’s a great opportunity that we all enjoy…and it also comes with a responsibility. It’s a space to have a mature conversation.”
A storm of false information
The Hope Not Hate campaign group said Tuesday’s riots in Southport followed “a storm of false information about the attack, much of it circulated by far-right accounts online”.
The 17-year-old suspect’s name was initially withheld due to rules relating to children accused of crimes, before a judge ruled that the media could name him Axel Rudakopana. He turns 18 next week and police said he was born in Cardiff.
But a Reuters analysis showed that the claim that the suspect was an asylum seeker or migrant was viewed at least 15.7 million times across X, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.
A false claim that he was an illegal immigrant who arrived on a small boat appeared on the Channel 3 Now website, and the website later apologized for publishing misleading and inaccurate information.
Internet personality Andrew Tate posted a photo of a man he said was responsible for the attack on Tuesday with the caption “straight off the boat”, but that claim is also false as the photo was of a 51-year-old man who was arrested for a separate stabbing in Ireland last year.
Separately, analysis by Channel 4 showed that 49% of traffic on social media platform X mentioning “Southport Muslim” – a reference to an unsubstantiated claim about the attacker’s religion – came from the US, with 30% coming from Britain.
Police said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related and urged people not to speculate as the investigation continues.
Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Party, said on Tuesday he wondered “whether the truth is being hidden from us”, questioning why the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related and asking whether the suspect had been monitored by security services.
After criticism from several people, including Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner, who accused Farage of stirring up conspiracy theories, Farage said he believed his “gentle questions” were fair and reasonable, adding that the internet was meanwhile full of unfounded theories.
Starmer declined to comment on Farage’s comments, saying his focus was on the families and police officers affected.
But Starmer warned that any misinformation that would interfere with the authorities’ work would jeopardise attempts to hold a fair trial.
“The price of a biased trial is ultimately paid by the victims and their families who are denied the justice they deserve,” he said.