On July 29, 2024, three little girls were stabbed to death during a festival in Southport in which 10 others were injured. The attacker, a 17-year-old male, was arrested. Given his age, the British police did not reveal his name which gave way for rumours to take place. Within hours, some far-right social media users claimed that the attacker was a Muslim migrant which pushed authorities to reveal the latter’s identity falsifying rumours regarding his origins and background.
Despite falsification, the day after the Southport incident, violent protesters gathered in London outside Downing Street for some minor fights with police. In the days after that, violent far-right demonstrations took place in other towns and cities across the country. Violent protests, described by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “far-right thuggery” targeted mainly Muslims and migrant communities. For instance, hotels housing asylum seekers waiting for their asylum applications’ processing were targeted by rioters. In Rotherham, rioters broke into the hotel, tried to set it on fire and blocked the exits while asylum seekers were inside, another hotel in Tamworth was also set alight.
Some high-profile figures are believed to be behind igniting the riots. Tommy Robinson who is a far-right activist is believed to be helping fuel England's worst riots in over a decade. While rioters have been chanting his name over the past week, Robinson has been commenting on the protests from abroad through social media posts. "As disorder spreads... don't say I didn't warn you," said Robinson on X to his 900,000 followers, the second night of rioting. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform U.K., a far-right populist party, has distanced himself from current riots and vocally condemned them. However, Farage was criticized for spreading “conspiracy theories” about the attacker’s identity. He has also previously drawn attention to and criticized hotels that house migrants which are being now targeted by violent protesters.
It seems that far-right activists, who have recently lost impact on the electoral level, are finding in social media an alternative channel to exert some influence. WhatsApp and Telegram have been used to organize gatherings and flyers organizing protests have been shared on Facebook.
Don’t Only Blame Misinformation
While misinformation is believed to be the igniting flame for violent riots targeting Muslims and migrants, rioters have already been waiting for a chance to storm into streets targeting Muslims in specific. The current situation in Britain has revealed the most vulnerable group inside Britian. In a 2023 study published by the U.K. government, Muslims were found out to be the most targeted group among those targeted in religious hate crimes, with 3,400 offences against Muslims in the U.K., 41% of all religious hate crimes.
However, looking at numbers indicating overall British behaviour toward migrants, when compared to other nationalities, British people were found to be relatively tolerant toward immigrants. In 2022, only 5% of the British public said they would not like to have immigrants as neighbours. Comparing numbers, it can be deducted that Muslim migrants, and not migrants in general, are the most targeted group by far-right Britons.
The above mentioned justifies why despite the fact that it was already revealed that rumours around the suspect’s origins of being a Muslim were just misinformation, rioters continued in their violent behaviour. Lack of access to high-quality information is not necessarily the primary cause of false-belief formation. A range of cognitive, social, and emotional factors also play a significant role. False beliefs often develop through the same mechanisms that establish accurate ones. When determining what is true, people tend to trust the validity of information and rely on their gut feelings and intuitions instead of careful deliberation. Another shortcut to determining truth might involve defaulting to one’s personal views. People are generally more likely to believe news headlines that align with their worldview.
Furthermore, misinformation can continue to influence people’s thinking even after they receive and accept corrections. This persistence is known as the continued influence effect (CIE). The CIE might explain why some people continue to believe in a link between vaccines and autism despite strong evidence disproving it, or why some believe that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq in 2003 despite a lack of supporting evidence. The CIE is primarily considered a cognitive effect, but it also has social and emotional underpinnings. Accordingly, it can be argued that rioters, while knowing that the perpetrator was neither Muslim nor a migrant, they chose to believe and continue in believing misinformation just because it fits into their previously held beliefs.
Finally, what Starmer’s government has to do is not an easy task. His party, with a centre-left ideology would have to choose between either accommodating rioters by leaning toward the right, in a purely European fashion, or sticking to leftist leanings in an effort to push back right-wing sentiments. Nevertheless, what would make Starmer’s mission easier is that extremist sentiments are not already widespread within the British society. In a recent study published by YouGov, only 8% of Britons sympathize with the rioters meaning that crushing rioters would be easier with no need for concessions to the far-right.
Al Habtoor Research Centre’s Commentary articles allow researchers to provide quick, informed responses to ongoing topics, emphasizing personal perspectives and expert opinions without the weight of exhaustive citations. This ensures agility in addressing rapidly evolving subjects and enriches the discourse with authentic insights.
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