Riots led by far-right groups persist across the UK. Amplifying anti-immigrant, racist and Islamophobic rhetoric, rioters have clashed with police, destroyed property in multiple cities, and perpetrated violent attacks against minority groups, with mobs reportedly attacking mosques and setting fire to hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers.

The disturbances have been fuelled by far-right groups in response to misinformation regarding the deaths of 3 young girls killed in a knife attack earlier this month. These groups have reportedly been using social media platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook and Telegram to spread misinformation about the identity of the assailant, seed xenophobic narratives, and incite violence.

The UK’s science and technology secretary reportedly met with social media companies as part of an attempt to ‘make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement’.

X and Meta did not respond to journalists’ request for comment. Telegram said that calls to violence are ‘explicitly forbidden’ on its platform and that it was developing a tool that would allow fact-checkers to add verified information to posts.