Starmer’s baptism of fire: far-right bring violence offline and onto Britain’s streets

“There’s always been propaganda and there’s always been violence. What’s brought violence mainstream is social media.”

The sentiment expressed by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa is all too apt for the UK at present. Political violence has always been a problem for leaders to contend with. But the malign potential of social media has surely amplified it.

Over the past week, the UK has witnessed some of the worst rioting of recent years. Following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport on 29 July, social media has been a forum for misinformation, including about the identity of the suspect.

A vigil for the victims was subsequently hijacked by far-right rioters who threw bricks and petrol bombs at the police and local mosque. In the wake of the Southport riot, violent demonstrators have poured onto the streets in no fewer than a dozen towns and cities, many targeting hotels housing asylum seekers. According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, 378 people have been arrested so far in relation to the unrest.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was director of public prosecutions during the disorder that followed the police shooting of Mark Duggan in 2011, which led to overnight court sessions as over 3,000 violent demonstrators were sentenced. As such, when Starmer promises to “ramp up” Britain’s criminal justice to arrest and prosecute rioters, he is surely treading familiar terrain. With social media, perhaps less so.

Starmer is evidently well-versed in the power of social media as a political tool, with his party spending £6m on digital campaigning compared to the Tories’ £2m in the run-up to the general election. So crucial was the digital realm deemed by party HQ, Labour’s shadow cabinet were given regular presentations on its importance.  

But a mere month into his new role, Starmer has been confronted with the less attractive face of the political platforms he harnessed to propel his party into power.  

Since the Southport stabbings, WhatsApp, X and Facebook have been awash with misinformation, churning out flyers for specific protests and circulating videos of violence.

Far right activist Tommy Robinson has been seen at the centre of the media storm, with flurries of videos pouring fuel on the fire of violent protest on Britian’s streets from the safe distance of his Cyprus hotel.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called on social media companies to conform to “clear requirements” to “remove criminal material”, adding that they have been too slow to do so. But such encouragement seldom scratches the surface.

Despite the Online Safety Act seeking to make the digital world safer, the government has few tools at their disposal to force compliance among big tech companies. What is more, some of their CEOs have proven to be uncooperative.

Elon Musk, owner of X, has said of the far-right violence hitting the UK that “civil war is inevitable”, dismissing the role his platform has played in spreading disorder. In response, the Prime Minister has said there is “no justification” for Musk’s comments. Moreover, Downing Street has confirmed ministers are making representations to social media firms on the matter.

But just what power politicians have to force social media companies to clamp down on misinformation and far-right conspiracies is uncertain. And with rocky relations between Britain’s new PM and the CEO of one of the most popular social media platforms, the work to resolve these problems is clearly nowhere near over.  

Just a month after its general election victory, the tough realities of government are beginning to hit Labour hard.