Former security minister Stephen McPartland has suggested Russia could be behind a social media misinformation campaign which led to appalling scenes in Southport on Tuesday night as protesters rioted.
It comes as sources in the Home Office have told The Independent that an investigation is being carried out on the origin of social media posts which fuelled the angry disturbance in the town. Security sources have pointed out that both China and Russia have large teams and networks working on disinformation campaigns which fuel social division and violence in the UK and other Western democracies.
The riot came after a vigil for the children who were attacked by a 17-year-old in the seaside resort. Three girls who were at a Taylor Swift holiday dance club – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine – lost their lives, while five children and two adults are still in critical condition.
The disturbance began outside a mosque in the Merseyside town with bottles and rocks thrown and a police van set alight.
But the unrest has been blamed on misinformation shared on social media suggesting that the 17-year-old suspect being held in custody may have been on a security watch and was Muslim.
Mr McPartland pointed the finger at Moscow and Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Before the election, he carried out a review of cybersecurity and preparedness which Rishi Sunak’s government agreed to implement but left on the shelf because of the election.
He said: “Disinformation to undermine democracy is a huge part of the Russian playbook and just in May the British government expelled a Russian defence attache and accused the Russian Federal Security Service [FSB] of systemic malign cyberattacks aimed at undermining democracy.
“The tragic events in Southport are being mobilised by hostile states to stir up hatred and division instead of letting the community grieve. We need much more cyber-resilience throughout our whole society and economy to defend democracy.”
The McPartland review looked at how the UK could be more robust to social media-led attacks as well as other cyber-risks, including the mass outage caused by CrowdStrike earlier this month which took out hospitals, rail, aeroplanes and broadcasters among others.
Meanwhile, former home secretary James Cleverly, who is now the Tory shadow for that role, is urging his Labour successor Yvette Cooper to step up action against misinformation from hostile states and extremist groups in the UK.
It comes as anti-far-right campaign groups have flagged up five more protests which could spark riots by far-right groups over the next few days. These include a Tommy Robinson-led event outside Downing Street.
Others are due to take place in Aldershot, Hull, Liverpool and Cardiff.
Mr Cleverly said: “While we give the police space and time to do their job, we must have no truck with those spreading disinformation and fuelling conspiracy.
“The police, the home secretary and the government must come down on this hard and fast. As home secretary, I took a clear and firm stance on protestors and civil disorder and went to America to ensure the tech companies properly understood that the UK government expected them to step up to stop the spread of disinformation. They must do so now. We all have a duty to honour truth, respect our police, and check before we share.”
Ms Cooper put out a statement condemning the riots but the Home Office declined to say whether she was taking matters further.
The department pointed to her statement to the Commons on Tuesday, just ahead of the riots, when the home secretary said: “It is extremely important that people do not spread damaging misinformation online. False information has already been extensively shared in the last 24 hours. Those who do this for their own purposes risk undermining a crucial criminal investigation.”
Meanwhile, the backlash against Nigel Farage’s online video on the Southport murders has continued to grow.
The Reform UK leader posted a video to social media responding to the attack, questioning why the incident was not being treated as terror-related and asking whether the “truth is being withheld from us”. He also asked whether the suspect, who is 17 and has not been identified, was being monitored by the security services.
In a statement the same day, Merseyside Police had stressed the “incident is not currently being treated as terror-related”.
Hitting out at Mr Farage’s response, Brendan Cox, the husband of the late Jo Cox who was murdered by a right-wing extremist, said: “Imagine your response to the death of three children being to peddle conspiracy theories that incite a riot.
“This is why Farage deserves the label far right. Everyone who is associated with him has normalised him or promoted him should be ashamed. This is vile.”
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said Mr Farage should not “stir up these fake news online” about the reasons behind the Southport knife attack.
Labour MP Jess Phillips also criticised Mr Farage, claiming he was “grifting” and pointing out that he failed to turn up to parliament for a statement on the incident.
Former SNP leader Humza Yousaf suggested the riots took place as a result of Mr Farage being given “endless air time to demonise communities”, adding: “This is the end result.”
Meanwhile, former MP Tobias Ellwood accused the MP for Clacton of “deliberately inflaming tensions”.
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