EXCLUSIVE: Online and political experts have warned that social media firms must take greater action to stop the rapid spread of anger on their sites to avoid it spilling onto the streets
Social media has become a “tinder box” in the aftermath of scandals like the Henry Nowak murder, experts have warned.
Violent clashes between protestors and police this week erupted in the streets of Southampton after the death of the 18-year-old student, in scenes reminiscent of the 2024 Southport riots.
Nigel Farage has been under fire after he called for “pure cold rage” and made claims of “two-tier policing” in response to the murder and failed to condemn the violence. Keir Starmer said he was exploiting the tragedy.
Online and political experts have warned that social media firms must take greater action to stop the rapid spread of controversial or harmful content on their sites to avoid it spilling onto the streets.
Dr Carolina Are, a digital criminologist at LSE, told The Mirror right-wing politicians like Mr Farage were capitalising on social media firms’ algorithms by producing short, snappy clips that can spread quickly.
“I’ve been observing with quite a lot of concern how these messages can then spread really fast online because of how they’re delivered and because of how they can be repackaged,” she said.
“Algorithms are known to prioritise engaging content that is controversial… and this is obviously happening in quite a divided political climate, so it feels like it’s a tinderbox.”
Manuel Tonneau, a social data science researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, said platforms like Elon Musk’s X put users in “bubbles” with people who think like them which can embolden then to take their rage from online onto the streets.
“When they voice their opinion – and sometimes their inflammatory opinion – they get a lot of reaction. They get a lot of engagement and sometimes a lot of support, and so people get reinforced in their potentially extreme views,” he said.
He said less moderated sites, like messaging service Telegram, can also be used for organising protests, “basically facilitating offline violence”.
Mr Tonneau highlighted that social media platforms’ business models often incentivise engagement with controversial content.
“Social media does not create these tensions but it amplifies and accelerates them and a lot of that amplification is built into how the platform works, into the business model,” he said.
“The commercial incentives do not necessarily favour restraint and more moderation but actually may pour more petrol on this issue.”
Studies have shown the Southport riots were fuelled by online conspiracy theories and misinformation, including untrue claims the attacker was a Muslim.
This week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood criticised swirling misinformation about the identity of officers involved in the Nowak case, with one officer having been forced to move from their home and another ex-officer going into hiding.
And Keir Starmer accused tech billionaire Musk of “trying to whip up division” in Britain in the wake of Henry’s murder.
Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said there is a social media pattern repeating itself after scandals in the UK. He told The Mirror: “Social media platforms have created the perfect conditions for this cycle to repeat itself, and it’s the same systems that amplified conspiracy theories and inflammatory content during the 2024 summer riots that continue to reward outrage, anger, division.
“Online division has real world consequences when millions of people are exposed to content that fuels racial resentment and conspiracy theories. The effects do not stay online.”
He said media regulator Ofcom was failing to act quickly enough – and called for bolder action in implementing the UK’s online safety laws. “What we’re seeing once again is a failure to act,” he said.
“The truth is, we put the Online Safety Act in place because we knew that without meaningful platform accountability, social media will continue to deepen distrust in institutions, from policing to the government to the media, while driving division between communities. It’s vital that we intervene.”
He took aim at new Ofcom chair Ian Cheshire, who was appointed earlier this week and had previously vowed to take on the “tech bros” in the role.
Mr Ahmed questioned Ofcom’s lack of response to the latest explosion of harms online, telling Mr Cheshire: “You said you said you would take on the tech bros, why are you silent as they stoke a race war in Britain?”
An Ofcom spokeswoman said the media regulator was in contact with social media companies about the fallout of the Nowak murder. They told The Mirror: “What happened to Henry Nowak was appalling, and we’ve contacted the platforms about this to ask whether they have seen any spikes in illegal content as a result, and to ensure they are complying with their duties.
“While Parliament did not legislate to require tech firms to address misinformation explicitly under the Act, sites and apps must deal with criminal content – including illegal hate and abuse. Where companies fall short, we’ve shown we’ll take action.”
If companies fail to comply with the UK’s rules, tech firms could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover or have their services blocked in the UK. In the first year of the Act being enforced, Ofcom launched investigations into over 100 sites and apps, and has imposed £5million in fines.
Under the Online Safety Act, misinformation must be removed where it is illegal or harmful to children.
Some 11 police officers were injured after protests turned violent on Tuesday evening. The police watchdog is investigating the murder case after Henry died in handcuffs. He was stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa who falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racial assault.