Hostile states may have amplified social media disinformation around riots, Cooper says

Home secretary attacks ‘armchair thuggery’ of individuals inciting violence online

Hostile states may be amplifying social media posts on rioting in Britain, home secretary Yvette Cooper has warned.

It comes just one day after as the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, warned that far-right actors are “almost certainly” being “aided and abetted by hostile states in creating and fanning disinformation”.

More than 145 people have been arrested so far after riots rocked major cities including Manchester, Liverpool and Hull.

Asked about claims that foreign actors are “fanning disinformation” around the riots on social media, the Ms Cooper said the government “[knows] that there can be amplification of social media activity online.”

But, speaking to Sky News, she added that the government’s focus is currently on “local groups and organisations, including some of those fuelled by far right extremists and also those who are local looters who came to join in and committed crimes”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper speaks to the media at the Home Office in central London following violent disorder in parts of the UK (Elena Giuliano/PA) (PA Wire)

Pressed on whether the Government will take action against Tommy Robinson, who has been accused of stoking tensions from afar, Ms Cooper said: “If it’s a crime offline, it’s a crime online.”

“You can’t just have the the armchair thuggery or the people being able to incite and organise violence and also not face consequences for this,” she added.

Downing Street said an emergency Cobra meeting will be held on Monday, as the violence and public unrest enters its sixth day.

Lord Walney urged the government to do more to pursue accounts spreading misinformation, saying he recommended in his recent review to the government that intelligence and security sources should be given more resources.

He said: “You’ll have troll factories in places like Russia and Iran full of Russian or Iranian nationals pretending to be Brits with extreme views on the far right or the far left, whose sole purpose is to create disinformation and fan it.

“That can have a very significant effect in this environment.”

Ms Cooper on Monday said that social media has put “rocket boosters” under far-right groups when it comes to the “organisation, the attention and the misinformation” surrounding the riots.

She said there would be a “reckoning” following unrest across England, pledging that anyone involved in the riots will “pay the price”.

The home secretary continued: “It’s a total disgrace and there has to be a reckoning. Those individuals who are involved in the disorder need to know that they will pay a price.

“I’ve made clear to the police they have my full support in going after the full range of offenders, from those who turned up at the last minute and joined in the looting, to some of the most serious offenders who were pursuing really dangerous arson, really dangerous damage and criminal violence, because we simply cannot stand for this.

“So we should be clear, there will be people who were thinking they were going on their summer holidays this week, and instead they will face a knock on the door from the police.

“They will face arrest and… a police cell, while they wait for trial in order to make sure that they do pay the price for what they have done.”

A car burns in Middlesbrough, during an anti-immigration protest (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

But shadow home secretary James Cleverly said the government “should have been quicker” in its response to riots taking place across England.

He said he would have called a Cobra meeting “much earlier”, adding that the government should be “more agile, more decisive”.

Violence has broken out in several parts of England and Northern Ireland following the killing of three young girls in Southport last week.

A large crowd gathered outside a mosque in Middlesbrough on Sunday night and others have also been targeted.

In Rotherham, anti-immigration rioters smashed the windows of the Holiday Inn Express before starting fires.

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday said those participating in violence, including those “whipping up this action online”, would “regret” it.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, the prime minister said: “Be in no doubt, those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law.

“The police will be making arrests. Individuals will be held on remand, charges will follow and convictions will follow.

“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves.

“This is not a protest, it is organised, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.”