This isn't the first time far-right groups in the UK have incited violence and blamed marginalized groups following murders. But this time, it's worse. So what's different?
But this isn't the first time far-right groups in the UK have incited violence and blamed marginalized groups following murders.
Members of the EDL during a march in Leeds, West Yorkshire. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/PA Images via Getty Images)
Back In 2013, the English Defence League (EDL), a fascist far-right group held riots after two Islamic extremists killed a British soldier.
Protesters with the English Defence League gesture towards a counter demonstration held by the group Unite Against Facism in Whitehall outside Downing Street on May 27, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Madiarmid/Getty Images)
And then in 2017, jihadist attacks in Westminster, Manchester Arena and London Bridge led to one of the largest anti-Muslim protests in the UK.
Members of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL) are contained behind a line of police as they march across Tower Bridge in London on September 7, 2013. (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
But this time, it's worse. So what's different?
Well, this time around, it's not just a single group driving disinformation and spreading hatred.
Hospital staff leave flowers on Westminster Bridge in central London on March 22, 2018, a year to the day after the Westminster terror attack. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
An article on the London Review of Books explains that we are now seeing "football hooligans, online trolls, bored teenagers, and even curious onlookers getting involved."
And that they aren't just targeting Muslims or refugees, but pretty much anyone who looks like they don't "belong" in the UK.
performs on stage during the One Love Manchester Benefit Concert at Old Trafford on June 4, 2017 in Manchester, England. via Getty Images
And social media is partly to blame.
Despite police arresting the attacker at the dance class in Southport on the spot on Monday July 29, the disinformation started to spread on social media.
People start claiming that the attacker was a Muslim, an illegal immigrant "who arrived to Britain by boat" and even sharing false names.
Police continue to cordon off an area after responding to terrorist attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market where 7 people were killed and at least 48 injured last night. Three attackers were shot dead by armed police. via Getty images
Far-right influencers and activists then capitalized on this to share disinformation to further their narrative.
Among them is Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the now disbanded EDL, which rejects the fact that ethnic people can be English.
Members of the far-right group Britain First march with flags in central London on April 1, 2017 following the March 22 terror attack on the British parliament. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was previously banned from Twitter for hateful conduct, but was reinstated in 2023 after Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022 and renamed it X.
A police officer forms part of a cordon around the EDL demonstrators as they hold banners against refugees, in London, on June 24, 2017. A high pilice presence keeps apart the far-right English Defence League and anti-EDL demonstrates as the EDL makes it's way though central London to protest against islam in the UK. (Photo by Jay Shaw Baker/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Misogynistic influencer, Andrew Tate, who was also banned and later reinstated on X, also said the attacker was an “undocumented migrant” who “arrived on a boat” in an X post went viral before it was taken down.
Police in Southport, Merseyside, where a man has been detained and a knife has been seized after a number of people were injured in a reported stabbing. (Photo by James Speakman/PA Images via Getty Images)
Nigel Farage, the leader of the anti-immigration political party, Reform UK, also shared a video on X right after the murder, saying he wondered if the "truth is being withheld from us", which he said is a "fair and legitimate question".
Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson is escorted by police during a protest titled 'London march against terrorism' in response to the March 22 Westminster terror attack on April 1, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
Musk himself shared a post asking UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer “Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?” after Starmer released a statement about protecting mosques.
It was later revealed the killer is a British national born and raised in the UK to Christian, Rwandan parents.
David Cameron, U.K. prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party, gives his resignation speech in Downing Street following the European Union (EU) referendum membership vote results in London, U.K. via Getty ImagesBritish Prime Minister, Theresa May addresses the nation after asking the European Union for a Brexit extension, at number 10 Downing Street on March 20, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
But this did not stop far-right mobs as they had already used Telegram to organize riots and began to take to the streets around the country, setting alight temporary refugee housing and police vans.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a farewell address before his official resignation at Downing Street on September 6, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Prime Minister Liz Truss answers questions at a press conference in 10 Downing Street after sacking her former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, on October 14, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Daniel Leal - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
But it's not all just due to social media.
Outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media as he leaves 10 Downing Street following Labour's landslide election victory on July 5, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The UK's Conservative government, which had ruled for 14 years before being voted out in July, also promoted anti-immigration laws and language.
Boris Johnson MP, Labour MP Gisela Stuart and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell have a meeting on board the Vote Leave, Brexit Battle Bus on May 17, 20016 in Stafford, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
From 2010, the party made pledges to reduce immigration, so when Brexit took place in 2016, leaving the European Union became an issue of "regaining control over the UK's borders”.
via Getty Images
This narrative that England was "being invaded" was furthered by the right-wing tabloid press, which amplified government messages calling Black Lives Matter and Gaza protests "hate marches".
English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson, also known as Stephen Lennon, and supporters arrive at the West London Magistrates court, in Hammersmith on November 22, 2010. via Getty Images
The UK's new Labour Prime Minister has condemned the riots multiple times since they began and said “those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law".
on May 13, 2016 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
More than 400 people have been arrested, with 140 charged and 5 people sentenced between 20 months to 3 years.
Isha Jain
