Following the tragic stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in England, anti-Muslim trolls have been spreading racist and Islamophobic misinformation, falsely claiming that an immigrant is responsible for the attack. This incident starkly reveals how deeply normalized anti-Muslim sentiment and hate speech have become across the U.K.
Online Misinformation Fuels Anti-Muslim Riots Across the U.K.
On July 29, three young girls were tragically killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event. The attack also left eight more children and two adults injured. Later that day, police arrested a 17-year-old from a nearby village and confirmed that the incident was not being treated as terror-related. Despite this, social media was flooded with false claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the U.K. by boat in 2023, with an incorrect name being widely circulated, alongside unfounded rumors that he was Muslim. In reality, as reported by the BBC and other outlets, the suspect was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
The violence that ensued across towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland has been fueled by online misinformation, far-right rhetoric, and anti-immigration sentiment.
According to police, the violence involved supporters of the now-disbanded far-right group, the English Defence League (EDL). Following the Southport riot, violent protests erupted in London, Hartlepool, and Manchester, with many targeting mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.
Multiple influencers, including those outside far-right circles, amplified false claims about the attacker's identity, spreading misinformation to a broad audience. On X, EDL founder and far-right activist Tommy Robinson posted inflammatory messages to his nearly one million followers while on holiday in Cyprus. An influencer associated with Yaxley-Lennon, known as "Lord Simon," was one of the first to publicly call for nationwide protests.
Anti-Muslim Sentiment and Hate Speech Normalized in the U.K.
It has become increasingly evident how normalized anti-Muslim sentiment and hate speech have become across the U.K.
Islamophobia is so pervasive that a recent YouGov poll found that a quarter of British people believe Muslims themselves are to blame for the recent anti-Muslim violence, rather than the far-right extremists responsible.
Moreover, despite overwhelming evidence that the rioters deliberately targeted Muslims and people of color, the U.K. media and political class have struggled to condemn this violence as Islamophobia and racism. On national TV, the PM of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, publicly condemned the riots as “far-right thuggery” but stopped short of using the words “Islamophobia” and “racism.”
Trolls Exploit U.K. Violence to Circulate Islamophobia and Hate Speech
Social media has played a significant role in fanning the flames of the recent unrest across the U.K. As the proverb goes, "seeing is believing," and as misinformation spread, so too did the rising levels of anger and tension.
Misbar’s investigative team displays some examples of the prevalent misinformation circulating online in relation to the riots.
A photo widely circulated on the social media platform X shows British police officers kneeling before a group of Muslims, implying that the police are biased in favor of Muslims during the ongoing riots. This image has been used to suggest a skewed portrayal of the situation in the U.K.
However, the photo is clearly AI-generated. Despite common sense not supporting the narrative of those spreading the image, it contains several clear signs of artificial intelligence manipulation. These include the unnatural appearance of the kneeling officers' legs, the distorted fingers of the standing officers, and the poorly rendered faces of both police officers and the Muslims depicted as sheikhs.
Social media users have also disseminated fake Instagram stories from purported Daily Mail, BBC, and The Sun accounts, falsely alleging that British/Irish artist and activist Darren Cullen created street art featuring Princess Diana with a caption that reads, "Great that I'm dead now and can't see all the shit that's going on in the U.K."
Misbar’s investigative team searched the artist's social media accounts and found a post where Darren Cullen refuted the claim that he created the fake graffiti of Princess Diana. He attributed the false claim to a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel.
“Obviously this is not my work, those news outlets never posted those stories, and the quote on Telegram (last slide) is the polar opposite of my views on immigration and these racist riots,” the post reads.
Moreover, social media users and Telegram channels circulated a fake BBC video report purporting to show Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis calling for a reduction in the number of mosques. The video claims that the Rabbi said that the only way to defeat violence committed by Muslim immigrants is to reduce the number of mosques in the U.K. It further alleges that mosques are replacing Anglican churches and serving as a justification for violence against Britons.
Misbar’s investigative team searched on the claim and found that the U.K. Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, refuted the video on his official X account. He responded to the video by warning against the spread of misinformation, stating, “This pernicious lie demonstrates the alarming scale of misinformation being spread online. I implore all users of social media to think critically and act responsibly.”
Furthermore, a fake video was circulated purporting to show the U.K. Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) warning citizens to avoid bars due to a heightened terrorism threat following right-wing protests. The video suggested that provocations could be committed by both right-wing extremists and radicalized migrant groups and warned that acting irresponsibly jeopardizes the safety of the entire U.K.
Misbar’s team investigated the video and found no supporting evidence on the official website of the U.K. Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) for the alleged video. The video in question appears to have been manipulated using MI6’s introductory footage and other clips, including a speech given by Richard Moore, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, from two years ago, to propagate hate speech.
Lastly, social media trolls have shared a fake video, attributed to Al Jazeera Network, purporting to show Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Member of the House of Lords, advocating for the construction of more mosques to mitigate violence. The video implies that more mosques have to be built in Britain: better access to mosques could preempt violence in Southport.
Contrary to the propaganda in the circulating video, Justin Welby wrote for the Guardian on August 11, asking all people to “setting the foundations for reconciliation” and live well.
Welby conveyed a message that the racist violence demands that people walk the difficult path toward living well together and lay the foundations for reconciliation. Reconciliation is considered a long and often painful process of addressing injustice and thoroughly investigating the deep-rooted causes of division.
Elon Musk Amplifies Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric
Social media has significantly fueled the anti-immigration riots sweeping across towns and cities in the United Kingdom, with platforms like Telegram and X being exploited by the far-right to spread misinformation about the Southport stabber and incite violence against Muslims and asylum seekers.
Elon Musk, owner of X, has played a controversial role in these riots. He made several provocative posts on the platform, including a statement claiming that “civil war is inevitable” in response to discussions linking the violence to “mass migration and open borders.”
Musk’s amplification of anti-immigrant rhetoric underscores how false information online is contributing to real-world violence.
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