This weekend saw yet another riot involving far-right extremists in Great Britain. The reason for them was the murder of three girls by a 17-year-old teenager in Southport, which caused a wave of hatred after false claims were spread on the Internet that the perpetrator was a Muslim and an asylum seeker.
These events are further evidence of how deeply rooted hatred is in British society and how quickly it can spread through misinformation. European media are looking for answers to the questions about the causes and sources of this hatred, analyzing various aspects of modern British politics and social processes.
The Sunday Times from Great Britain explains that the rioters have the support of well-known representatives of the right-wing scene:
“Right-wing extremism has literally spread across the internet like metastases. The fake news from a news site was shared by Andrew Tait, a misogynistic influencer, and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the former leader of the far-right and Islamophobic group the English Defense League. The speed with which social media and WhatsApp spread disinformation and organized groups create more and more problems for the police. It is also worth reflecting on the fact that some authoritative right-wing politicians have fueled the discontent that has now taken such a bloody form.”
Greek portal In.gr warns that a spontaneous popular movement is forming very quickly:
“First of all, the far right is supported by all those parties that supposedly belong to the defenders of the constitution, but which adopt their program and rhetoric, their racism and anti-immigrant policies. In addition, they are supported by governments that believe that the answer to the rise of the far right is to embody their politicians into life at the expense of normalizing hate speech – which ultimately gives the right more legitimacy. And, of course, they are supported by all those mass media that are ready to easily and quickly reproduce nationalism, racism and xenophobia, because they think it will “sell well”. .
Brussels newspaper The standard notes that far-right politicians instrumentalize the sense of hopelessness that arose due to the deplorable situation in the country:
“After Brexit, illegal migration across the English Channel has increased – partly because the British no longer have the right to send migrants back to France. On the other hand, legal immigration from Europe has stopped, causing shortages in fields such as construction, healthcare agriculture, and in the restaurant and hotel business. The far right is keen to exploit the drama in Southport – to get the disillusioned masses off their feet. The fact that some British Reform UK politicians, including Farage, have also pushed this hate, spreading misinformation about the criminal, makes them complicit in the wave of violence.”
The Observer from Great Britain believes that now Labor must take a decisive stand against the right:
“Starmer struck exactly the right tone when he called this week’s events an attack on the rule of law and announced the creation of an initiative to coordinate the work of intelligence agencies and police across the country. In addition, the government must also ensure that social media companies comply with their legal obligations measures to prevent the spread of misinformation and incitement to violence. And given the overt Islamophobic hatred, the police need to be given adequate resources to ensure security in mosques.”
According to the Istanbul newspaper Republic, in order to prevent the development of the fascist movement into a mass party, it is necessary:
“To create a strong, active movement against Islamophobia and racism with a multifaceted approach. Optimism is inspired by the fact that anti-fascist forces have taken to the streets – to fight back fascists. Social democratic governments have always believed that they could stop this form of fascism with the forces of the state law enforcement apparatus. Given institutionalized racism and sexism within the ranks of the police itself, as well as the ease with which the fascist movement is able to infiltrate the police, to rely on this is to indulge in illusions.”
So, the riots in Great Britain are a signal to the whole society about the need for decisive action against the spread of hatred and misinformation. It is important to understand and eliminate the causes that contribute to the development of far-right movements, and to join forces at all levels to overcome this threat.
