The UK government is looking into whether misinformation spread by foreign state actors is responsible for the nationwide violent far-right riots.Following the sad stabbing of three children in Southport, the UK is currently seeing a surge of anti-immigrant violence and far-right rioting. Online conspiracy theories and disinformation are fuelling this violence, spreading like wildfire.A wave of violence by far-right organisations has extended to different towns such as Manchester, Liverpool, and Hull. The groups have engaged in conflicts with police, targeted mosques, and set fire to hotels that house asylum seekers.

The turmoil that has been happening on has gotten so bad that Prime Minister Keir Starmer called an urgent Cobra crisis meeting. The purposeful dissemination of false information by the UK's enemies was one of the topics of conversation.Even though the tragic Southport murders served as the catalyst for the incident, waves of discrimination circulated online, spreading false information about the identity, religion, and asylum status of the stabbing suspect, which quickly gained traction on social media sites like X (formerly Twitter), amplified the far-right mob's anger and violence.Paradoxically, the Daily Mail—possibly the most adamantly anti-immigrant daily in the UK—was the first to disclose that a fictitious news source called "Channel3 Now" had erroneously claimed that the suspect was an asylum applicant who was purportedly on the M16 list.

This was not accurate. Axel Rudakubana, the alleged attacker, was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan parents. But far-right agitators, grifters, and influencers like Tommy Robinson—whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon—and Andrew Tate propagated the message on social media in spite of this.This lie was shared in a post by Channel3 Now, which was viewed over 2 million times before being deleted. The alleged news source was later traced back to a Russian YouTube channel that started 11 years ago."Clearly, we have seen bot activity online, much of which may well be amplified, or have the involvement of state actors, amplifying some of the disinformation and misinformation that we've seen," said the official spokeswoman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer."That is something that the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology [DSIT] and the National Crime Agency [NCA] are looking at, in relation to what we've seen online," they continued. Certain misinformation propagated on the internet is amplified by well-known bot activity, which is, as I mentioned earlier, connected to state-sponsored operations.

Nevertheless, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper attempted to minimise the possible involvement of state actors, despite the fact that Russian state media outlets have a long history of disseminating false information about the actions, legal or otherwise, of the Russian state and that online bots that aim to amplify division are a well-known cost of participating in social media discourse.Cooper stated to Sky News, "We are aware that social media activities may be amplified. Our attention is currently, in my opinion, focused on neighbourhood associations and groups, some of which are supported by far-right extremists, as well as those who were merely local looters who came to participate in crimes.

Cooper conceded that social media corporations had some of the blame for the rapid dissemination of false information online, claiming that certain websites had been careless in removing "criminal material that they should be removing."But they also really just need to have a feeling of duty towards communities, as we've seen in several towns and cities," she continued. We shall thus pursue this via the social media platforms.Cooper denied any involvement in the online disinformation campaign, but shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly strongly suggested that foreign intervention was likely given the surge in violence, which he claimed "has all the hallmarks" of being fuelled by a "very pernicious online culture perpetrated by the far right" that was "amplified both within the UK and beyond our borders."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned the ongoing violence in the country, stating that those involved will face the full force of the law. He emphasized that the disorder is not a protest but organized, violent thuggery. Starmer also highlighted the issue of bots, malicious state actors, and extremists pushing false narratives. However, it remains to be seen if the British government is fully aware of the problem.