Violent scenes that erupted across England in the wake of a fatal knife attack on children in northern England were fueled by disinformation propagated by a website linked to Russia, the U.K.’s Daily Mail has reported.
The attack at a dance class left three children dead and eight wounded, five of them critically, with two adults also on the critical list. Far-right demonstrators stormed a local mosque the following day in violent scenes that left 53 police officers wounded.
The Daily Mail wrote on Thursday that its investigations had revealed the trouble started after disinformation “spread like wildfire” on social media that the culprit was an asylum seeker named Ali Al-Shakati who had arrived in the U.K. on a migrant boat.
A fake news site linked to Russia fanned the flames, also claiming that the perpetrator was on an MI6 watchlist and known to local mental health services. The Mail reported that the Channel3 Now social media account, which it said masquerades as a U.S. news site but in fact hails from Russia, published an inflammatory post on the X platform that was viewed two million times before being deleted.
The false information was further perpetrated by Russian state media and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as well as by controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate who told his 10 million followers that an “illegal immigrant” had stabbed “six little girls” and urged his followers to “wake up.”
The Mail reported that “in June last year, Channel3 Now set up its website, which has been accused of sharing 'racially motivated click-bait'.” On Wednesday, Channel3 Now issued an apology on X for having published “misleading information.”
Following the violence in Southport, trouble also flared up in Manchester, Hartlepool and London with more than 100 people being arrested in the capital for “violent disorder” and “assault on an emergency worker,” the city’s Metropolitan Police said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused right-wing agitators of “hijacking” the grief of the victims’ families.
The spread of the disinformation online was so rapid and widespread that Merseyside Police released a statement that the name being spread was incorrect and that the suspect in fact came from Cardiff. He was named on Thursday as Axel Rudakubana after a court lifted reporting restrictions. Rudakubana has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder, CNN reported. The 17-year-old born to Rwandan parents has been remanded in a youth detention center until a hearing set for October 25.
Before the suspect’s name had been released, the false identity had been mentioned more than 30,000 times on X and was being amplified by far-right leaders, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a counter-extremism organization. The ISD’s director of communications, Tim Squirrell, told CNN that attacks are always followed by people speculating about the attacker’s ethnicity.
“White nationalists will seize on any opportunity to spread misinformation about Muslims, about anyone who’s not white,” he said. “So they were immediately on it—and were happy to spread basically whatever would confirm their presuppositions about who had done it.” He said the false identity and all other information was entirely fictitious though it remained unclear who was responsible.
“They gave out details that were basically designed to pick up the attention of the far-right, and also for anyone who is concerned about migration,” he said.
The Daily Mail wrote on Thursday that its investigations had revealed the trouble started after disinformation “spread like wildfire” on social media that the culprit was an asylum seeker named Ali Al-Shakati who had arrived in the U.K. on a migrant boat.
A fake news site linked to Russia fanned the flames, also claiming that the perpetrator was on an MI6 watchlist and known to local mental health services. The Mail reported that the Channel3 Now social media account, which it said masquerades as a U.S. news site but in fact hails from Russia, published an inflammatory post on the X platform that was viewed two million times before being deleted.
The false information was further perpetrated by Russian state media and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as well as by controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate who told his 10 million followers that an “illegal immigrant” had stabbed “six little girls” and urged his followers to “wake up.”
The Mail reported that “in June last year, Channel3 Now set up its website, which has been accused of sharing 'racially motivated click-bait'.” On Wednesday, Channel3 Now issued an apology on X for having published “misleading information.”
Clashes across EnglandOur response on the misleading information published in a recent article on our website, Channel3 NOW. We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.https://t.co/j51ToIDl4H
— Channel3 Now (@channel3nownews) July 31, 2024
Following the violence in Southport, trouble also flared up in Manchester, Hartlepool and London with more than 100 people being arrested in the capital for “violent disorder” and “assault on an emergency worker,” the city’s Metropolitan Police said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused right-wing agitators of “hijacking” the grief of the victims’ families.
The spread of the disinformation online was so rapid and widespread that Merseyside Police released a statement that the name being spread was incorrect and that the suspect in fact came from Cardiff. He was named on Thursday as Axel Rudakubana after a court lifted reporting restrictions. Rudakubana has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder, CNN reported. The 17-year-old born to Rwandan parents has been remanded in a youth detention center until a hearing set for October 25.
Before the suspect’s name had been released, the false identity had been mentioned more than 30,000 times on X and was being amplified by far-right leaders, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a counter-extremism organization. The ISD’s director of communications, Tim Squirrell, told CNN that attacks are always followed by people speculating about the attacker’s ethnicity.
“White nationalists will seize on any opportunity to spread misinformation about Muslims, about anyone who’s not white,” he said. “So they were immediately on it—and were happy to spread basically whatever would confirm their presuppositions about who had done it.” He said the false identity and all other information was entirely fictitious though it remained unclear who was responsible.
“They gave out details that were basically designed to pick up the attention of the far-right, and also for anyone who is concerned about migration,” he said.
Source: The Daily Mail, CNN, PAP
More In Politics MORE...
