But even as online disinformation related to stabbings in the U.K. has led to real-world violence, Ofcom, Britain's online safety regulator finds itself unable to take effective enforcement actions.
Shortly after the attack, social media users were quick to falsely identify the perpetrator as an asylum seeker who arrived in the U.K. by boat in 2023.
U.K. officials subsequently issued warnings to social media firms urging them to get tough on false information online.
Peter Kyle, the U.K.'s technology minister, held conversations with social media firms such as TikTok, Facebook parent company Meta , Google and X over their handling of misinformation being spread during the riots.
watch nowUnder the Online Safety Act, the sending of false information intended to cause non-trivial harm is considered a punishable criminal offense.
Persons:
Christopher Furlong, knifeman, Taylor Swift, Axel Rudakubana, Peter Kyle, Gill Whitehead, Whitehead
Organizations:
Riot, Ofcom, Police, Facebook, Meta, Google, CNBC
Locations:
Rotherham, U.K, Southport, Merseyside