Protests, Counter-Protests, and Arrests in the United Kingdom
Introduction
The murder of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar by the 17-year-old, English-born (of Rwandan immigrants) Christian, Axel Rudakubana on July 29th, set off a chain of events that led to an ongoing wave of far-right protests, mass arrests, and left-wing counter-protests. This story has raised concerns about the dangers posed by counterfactual reports by media outlets, misinformation, and censorship of free speech.
Protestors commit arson during the July-August 2024 British riots (Getty Images)
Background
Following the murder of the three girls in Southport, England, Channel3Now falsely named Ali Al-Shakati as their killer. Many users of social media site X went on to repost screenshots of this article. A post which received over 1000 views by a user whose username will remain anonymous posted the following:
“Attacker confirmed to be Muslim. Name Al-Shakati. Age 17. Came to UK by boat last year.”
Larger right-wing figures such as Andrew Tate, Nigel Farage, and co-founder of the far-right English Defence League and anti-immigration campaigner Tommy Robinson also spread the idea that the attacker was a Muslim immigrant.
These triggered a wave of anti-migrant protests, counter-protests and riots which quickly turned violent. While largely remaining contained to England, these protests have also affected Northern Ireland. Violent acts committed in these riots include attacks on ethnic minorities, shooting fireworks at police, setting fire to a police station and a hotel housing asylum-seekers, and targeting a mosque.
Map of riots as of August 7th, 2024 (Solace Global)
Calling for the formation of a “standing army,” the government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer deployed more than 6,000 riot police (30% of the total number employed by the United Kingdom) throughout the nation to control these protests, claims risk management and security company, Solace Global. CNN claims that the total number of protestors arrested is currently 483.
Some of these arrests were allegedly based on social media posts, leaving some to feel that the response to these riots has impeded free speech. The Mirror UK comments the following:
“Two people have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment with intent to cause fear and violence after a social media post encouraging members of the public to protest outside a hotel.”
Counter-protests also played an important role in the response. CNN wrote on the night of August 7th:
“Thousands of anti-racism protesters have taken to the streets across the United Kingdom to counter a spate of far-right rallies planned to target immigration centers, seeming to thwart what looked set to be another day of rioting.”
Musk Comments
Elon Musk, CEO of X since May 2023, has been outwardly critical concerning the police response to the riots. Referencing the protests, he has called Prime Minister Starmer “#twoTierKeir,” a reference to two-tier policing, or the idea that some individuals (the far-right protesters in this case) are treated more harshly by police than others (the left-wing counter-protesters). Starmer has since dismissed these concerns. Musk also posted the following as a reaction to the alleged arrest of right-wing social media users over their posts:
“Arrested for making comments on Facebook! Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?”
Starmer dismisses concerns over two-tier policing (AOL UK)
Analysis
While inflammatory and false information likely contributed to the outbreak of violence, the suppression of free speech caused by repeated waves of recent social unrest in the United Kingdom has concerning implications. Far from exclusively affecting the far-right, largely left-wing, pro-Palestinian protesters have also been subjected to restrictions on their freedom of speech. The actions of the administration during the protests set a dangerous precedent in which the freedom of those with dissident opinions are unable to speak their mind.
It is true that an organization claiming to be professional news media bears a significant responsibility distinct from that of an individual. Channel3Now, a channel which, on its website, claims that its “seasoned journalists” provide “credible reporting,” should be held to a higher standard for reporting factual information. The spreading of objective misinformation concerning the murderer’s identity means that it has not lived up to these standards.
The BBC fact checks the Channel3Now article (BBC)
In an interview with Telegram, this journalistic malpractice, along with a history of posting Russian-language videos on its YouTube channel, even pushed a former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) aka MI6 to speculate that this media outlet may have ties to the Russian government. There is little evidence to confirm this. In fact, this type of journalism is an example of misinformation/disinformation often being committed by the UK media.
Conclusion
All in all, it is critical to emphasize that individuals and news outlets must be held to different standards when it comes to spreading potential misinformation. The excessive censorship of social media posts and individual freedom of speech represents government overreach and a danger to critical liberties. On the other hand, news organizations must be held accountable for spreading, intentionally or unintentionally, potentially harmful and counterfactual information.