The British government is cracking down on people sharing social media posts about the UK riots that it believes “may spark racial hatred.”
In recent days, riots have broken out across the UK following false rumours spread online that an asylum seeker was responsible for a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others injured. The murders, allegedly committed by an 18-year-old British citizen born to Rwandan parents, sparked a series of violent protests that tapped into broader concerns about the scale of immigration into the UK.
Images of violent clashes between anti-immigration protesters and groups of counter-protesters, some of whom were seen waving Palestinian flags, have gone viral on social media, with the government warning that sharing such content can have serious consequences.
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Sky News correspondent Matthew Thompson talks about how the UK government is responding to online videos of the riots.
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The Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales, Stephen Parkinson, warned against “publishing or distributing material that is insulting or abusive and is intended or likely to cause racial hatred. Therefore, if you retweet that, you are republishing it and potentially committing that offence.” [incitement to racial hatred].”
He added: “We have specialised police officers who scour social media. Their job is to look for this material and then follow up with identification, arrests, etc.”
“It's a very, very serious thing. People may think they're not doing anything harmful, but they are. And they will suffer the consequences,” Parkinson said.
Sky News political correspondent Matthew Thompson, who interviewed Parkinson, reported on the official's announcement, warning of the implications for British citizens, regardless of their intentions.
He agreed with the presenter who said: “People might be sharing [content] “Just to warn your friends, but it could be considered offensive because they are amplifying this.”
“Absolutely, and that's the key message. However, if you think you're acting innocently on social media, whatever the platform, you're just sharing something for whatever reason, that could potentially be a criminal offence,” Thompson replied.
“This is not an idle threat either, as the Crown Prosecution Service was keen to point out that it has laid a number of charges in relation to inciting racial hatred online, one of which this morning was for distributing a recording which may be intended to incite racial hatred,” he continued.
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“They're already filing charges for these kinds of things. So it's a very clear message, based on the harsh reality, if you will, that if you do these kinds of things, you're potentially committing a criminal offense,” Thompson reiterated.
“They have teams of people who scour the internet for this kind of thing. And if you're sharing or retweeting, on any platform, potentially criminal material, you can end up being prosecuted,” he added.
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
