Social media and the 2024 UK Summer Riots

• In Event: POLWG Panel 22. Public Order Policing: Public and Police perceptions, pre-protest strategies and the role of social media

Abstract

Protests and riots occurred across major UK cities during the summer of 2024. This followed speculation and misinformation on social media about the identity and background of an assailant who murdered three young girls in Southport, England. In the aftermath, mosques and buildings were vandalised and emergency workers were assaulted by people who took to the streets. This paper draws on social media research conducted on the platform X (formerly Twitter) at the time of the protests and riots. Users’ responses on police social media accounts were qualitatively analysed. Findings showed that much of these comments included right-wing sentiments and centred on anti-immigration. Users proclaimed that the police no longer defenced White British citizens and that immigrants and ethnic minorities represented a threat. To this end, users viewed the protestors and rioters favourably and for standing up for white people in Britain and so called ‘British values’. These comments were factually inaccurate, offensive, included hate speech, and raise questions on the role of the police in tackling hate crime online as well as their presence on X more broadly.

Authors

• Liam Ralph, Northumbria University

• Paul Robinson, Northumbria University

• Adam Aitken, University of Salford