A single LinkedIn post, removed for false claims, was viewed millions of times, causing riots across England and Northern Ireland. The stabbings at a children's dance party on July 29 ignited a wave of unrest fuelled by misinformation, particularly the false narrative that the suspect was an illegal migrant.
Just hours after the attack, misinformation spread widely through various unofficial news sources and personal accounts. Among them was a LinkedIn post from Eddie Murray, a local who posted three hours after the incident.
“My two youngest children went to a holiday club this morning in Southport for a day of fun only for a migrant to enter and murder/fatally wound multiple children,” he wrote. While Murray was relieved that his children were safe, he called for drastic measures, saying, “If there's any time to close the borders completely, it's right now! Enough is enough.”
Despite LinkedIn removing the post for harmful content, the damage was done. The post was copied and reshared widely, leading to over two million views across platforms, reported the BBC.
The misinformation spread like wildfire, partly due to the lack of detailed information from the Merseyside Police. Following protocol, the police couldn't reveal specifics about the suspect, who was a minor. After the attack, they only released a brief statement, saying armed officers arrested a male and seized a knife. But this limited update did little to stop the intense speculation, which had already taken off on social media.
Murray's post became just one among many fuelling the narrative. Shortly after, an Indian online news account ‘Upuknews' retweeted a screenshot of Murray's claims as “confirmed,” drawing over half a million views, as per the BBC.
High-profile figures, including Paul Golding, co-leader of Britain First, and Nicholas Lissack, a Reform Party activist, who claimed he had “confirmed the authenticity” of Murray's statement, amplified this misinformation. By this time, a fabricated name, “Ali Al-Shakati,” emerged as the supposed identity of the suspect.
By the evening of July 30, a Telegram group named “Southport Wake Up” was established, calling for gatherings that turned violent. Activists and far-right groups used the chaos to fan the anti-immigrant sentiments. Reports from the scene captured the protesters chanting slogans against the police, fuelled by the false narratives circulating online.
Experts have noted the profound implications of such misinformation. Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, stated that the law currently “stokes the risk of online disinformation,” claiming that false claims about the suspect's identity are plausibly connected to the violence that followed.
In response to the chaos, Ofcom, the media regulator, confirmed that there was a “clear connection” between the violence in England and Northern Ireland and the spread of disinformation on social media.
