The 2024 UK riots, a series of violent protests that swept across England and Northern Ireland, were ignited by a tragic incident: the mass stabbing of three young girls–Bebe King, Elsie Dit Stancombe and Alice Da Silva–at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport. While the initial crime which occurred in Late July was undoubtedly horrific, it was the subsequent spread of misinformation that fueled the flames of unrest.
After the horrific incident, there were widespread rumours about the identity of the suspect in the stabbing incident. One of the false information about the suspect which went viral was that he was ‘an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list.’ This particular rumour spread rapidly around social media, leading to riots breaking out across the country.
The ensuing riots stoked by anti-immigration and islamophobic sentiments spread across England and Northern Ireland. The House of Commons Library reported 29 anti-immigration protests and riots occurred across 27 UK towns and cities between July 30 and August 7, 2024. Many of these riots and protests were violent, targeting mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers with known far-right activists attending and promoting the riots.
The aftermath of the riot
As of August 30, the National Police Chiefs’ Council reported 1,280 arrests and 796 charges related to the riots. Law enforcement also identified hundreds of additional suspects, indicating further legal proceedings. By September 2, the UK government confirmed that 570 individuals had been brought before the courts with prison sentences and community orders handed to these individuals.
The facts
Source: David Aaronovitch Substack
The riots and the ensuing aftermath showed how swiftly misinformation can spread even in the midst of verified facts. For instance, 55-year-old Bernadette Spofforth used her X page with over 54,000 followers (as of July/August 2024) to incorrectly name the suspect, claiming he was an asylum seeker who arrived on a boat in 2023 and was on a terror watch list.
Source: DailyMail
Channel3Now, which presents itself as an American news website, first published the misinformation on the suspects identity which also went viral as well.
On July 29, following the widespread rumour, Merseyside Police released details of the suspect as a 17-year-old male from Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. By August 1, restrictions preventing him from being identified were lifted and he was identified as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, born August 7, 2006. Despite the release of the suspect’s identity and family history–his parents are Rwandan immigrants–this did not stop the rioters from wreaking havoc and causing panic across England and Northern Ireland.
The rise in misinformation
The Reuters 2024 Digital News Report revealed a marked surge in public concern regarding online misinformation. A substantial 59 percent of respondents—a 3-point increase from the previous year—expressed heightened anxieties about discerning fact from fiction within the digital news landscape. Online users perceive TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) as unreliable sources as both platforms have spread misinformation about various topics, including the war in Gaza and the use of deepfakes.
This concern is valid, considering that the Channel3now website was created in 2023 and shut down in August 2024 after sharing fake news which fueled the riots. Although the website was not a major news website, it had considerable traction on X, where it shared the misinformation on the suspect’s identity and received millions of views following reposts by far-right influencers on the platform. On the same platform, Spofforth’s post went viral stoking the riot.
Conclusion
The 2024 UK riots stand as a stark testament to the destructive power of misinformation. A tragic stabbing incident, fueled by false narratives spread through social media, ignited widespread unrest across the nation. It illustrates how false narratives spread online have far-reaching consequences and can lead to social unrest, polarisation, and erosion of trust in institutions and social media platforms.
This incident is a reminder about the dangers of misinformation. It is also a reminder that when you verify information before sharing it on social media, you help to combat the spread of falsehoods and contribute to a safer and resilient society.
By Olakunle Mohammed, Yunusa Umar
