Riots fueled by social media

How can a horrific attack on young children, perpetrated by a 17-year-old boy with autism who never leaves his home, turn into violent riots by the extreme right? Social networks have their share of responsibility because rumors born on the internet have spread to the streets.

Just hours after the attack on Monday July 29 in Southport, north of Liverpool, which caused the deaths of three children, Investigators had barely begun to piece together the facts when a name was already circulating on X: Ali Al-Shakati. Details about this fictitious young man have been shared millions of times. He is said to be an asylum seeker who arrived in the United Kingdom by boat last year and is even on a watch list for MI6 (the country’s foreign intelligence service).

This false information is circulating among far-right influencers and channels. “The horror of this knife attack seems to have been a lightning rod for these types of movements that look for a culprit, and in this case, accuse Muslims or migrants in general of being at the origin of the violence.”explains Milo Comerford, researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Beyond the exploitation by the far right, this attack is also being exploited online to accumulate views and subscribers, particularly on X where verified users can monetize their content. The British Prime Minister is also directly attacking the platforms. “Let me also say to the big social media companies and those who run them: ‘lViolent disturbances caused online are also a crime. They happen on your premises. And the law must be respected everywhere’,” did he declare.

The identity of the attacker has since been revealed, he is a 17-year-old teenager born in the United Kingdom, but it is already too late since the spiral of violence has begun.