Opinion | The Chaos in Britain Has Been Coming

The scenes are shocking.

In the wake of the murder of three young girls in the northwestern town of Southport, England, riots erupted across the country. Seizing on misinformation about the suspect’s identity, far-right rioters embarked on a harrowing rampage, setting fire to cars, burning down mosques, harassing Muslims, looting stores and attacking hotels housing asylum seekers. In an early August weekend, there were over 50 protests and almost 400 arrests. In the week since, hundreds of rioters have been charged and dozens convicted.

The country is stunned. But for all the events’ eye-popping madness, we shouldn’t be surprised. The animosities underpinning the riots — hatred of Muslims and migrants alike — have long found expression in Britain’s political culture, not least under the previous Conservative government whose cornerstone commitment was to “stop the boats” on which migrants made their way to British shores.

Far-right extremists, emboldened by that government’s turn to migrant-bashing, have been waiting for the perfect chance to take to the streets. Crucially, they have found a home online, where platforms — poorly regulated and barely moderated — allow the spread of hate-filled disinformation, whipping up a frenzy. These have been disturbing days. But the chaos has been coming.

Disinformation is at the heart of the riots. In the aftermath of the killings in Southport, users on X posted and shared false claims, stating that the alleged attacker was an asylum seeker who arrived in Britain by boat — when he was in fact born and raised in Wales. On TikTok, far-right users went live and called on one another to gather in protest. Their reach was wide. Thanks to the platform’s aggressively personalized For You page, it is not difficult to get videos in front of users who have already engaged with far-right or anti-migrant content.

The apparatus of assembly extended to messaging services. On Telegram, far-right group chats shared lists of protest locations; one message included the line “they won’t stop coming until you tell them.” In WhatsApp chats, there were messages about reclaiming the streets and taking out “major bases” of immigrant areas in London. These calls to action were quickly amplified by far-right figures like Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defense League, who took to X to spread lies and foment hate. Almost immediately, people were out on the streets, wreaking havoc.

There was little to stop the outpouring of false claims and hateful language, even after officials released information about the suspect’s identity. Legislation on internet safety is murky and confusing. Last year, the Conservative government passed the Online Safety Act, whose remit is to protect children and force social media companies to remove illegal content. But there is no clear reference in the law to misinformation.