UK Government Delays Action Against X Over Posts Inciting Violence in Belfast
Elon Musk’s social media platform X will not face immediate government action to remove numerous posts inciting violence in Belfast for at least two months, despite widespread condemnation of both the platform and its owner. Any official reprimand will be issued by the media regulator Ofcom, but this is not expected before the regulator receives its first quarterly compliance report from X.
Concerns about social media’s role in spreading disturbing images and escalating tensions continued to grow on Wednesday as police and community leaders urged calm. They feared a recurrence of the violence that erupted on Tuesday evening, when crowds, including masked individuals, gathered and blocked roads in and around Belfast. Members of ethnic minority communities were targeted in what one observer described as a deeply troubling situation.
Keir Starmer pledged on Wednesday to crack down on those fomenting divisions, stating there was no justification for the scenes of violence and disorder witnessed. Ministers intend to amend the Online Safety Act to require social media companies to act more swiftly in removing inflammatory content during riots or crises, but these changes will not come into effect before mid-July at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the government will defer any formal action against X to Ofcom. The media regulator is awaiting X’s first quarterly compliance report, which is due in at least two months.
Legal Proceedings and Community Appeals for Calm
Further protests were anticipated on Wednesday after Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old refugee from Sudan, was charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie. Alodid appeared at magistrates’ court and faced additional charges of threatening to kill an NHS radiographer and possessing a knife.
The family of Ogilvie, who lost his left eye in the attack, issued a statement appealing for calm. They expressed devastation over the incident but rejected disorder as a response.
“We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,” they said in a statement shared via Phillip Brett, the Democratic Unionist MLA for Belfast North. “We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward.
“We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”
Following calls for demonstrations by Musk and other far-right agitators, including Tommy Robinson, two Ugandan care workers were forced to flee their homes. They were rescued after a church pastor intervened and pleaded with a mob of rioters to allow the women to leave.
Sumayah Nakazibwe, one of the women, described a “terrifying” experience where she and her housemate, Stella Ariokot, were trapped inside their home as a mob gathered outside and neighbouring houses were set on fire.
“Someone who is actually rioting doesn’t know that the person they are targeting is actually looking after their mother or their granny,” she said.
On Wednesday, Ruth Anderson, a Labour peer and Cabinet Office minister, informed the House of Lords that 27 people had been made homeless after foreign nationals were targeted during the unrest.
National Security Concerns and Social Media’s Role
Neil Basu, a former police national lead for counter-terrorism, warned that far-right agitation over migration represents the most significant current national security threat facing the UK. He highlighted how social media and hostile foreign states are amplifying anger, making this threat greater than Islamist terrorism.
“The way we talk about immigration is fuelling violence on the streets, and is fuelled by social media. Black and brown people are walking around terrified. What the extremists want is a white Britain.”
Conversely, Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, stated that national security could be threatened by the arrival of individuals from countries where they might have experienced or participated in violence, and that public concern is legitimate.
“It’s absolutely legitimate to talk about immigration in the context of national security,” Hall told the BBC.
As cleanup efforts began following the disorder, Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, announced that updates to the Online Safety Act would be introduced next week. These updates will require social media companies to take faster action to remove illegal content circulating during crises.
Although this will be secondary legislation not requiring a parliamentary vote, it must be laid before parliament for 40 days before taking effect.
On Wednesday, Ofcom issued reminders to X and other online content providers about their legal responsibilities to prevent incitement.
Border Controls and Government Measures
Reports indicated that Alodid claimed asylum in Northern Ireland after crossing the border from the Republic of Ireland, which has minimal controls. The Home Office plans to intensify intelligence-led operations to detect migrants without legal status or those with criminal records, including employing facial recognition technology.
Following the knife attack, far-right activists called for demonstrations, while Musk reposted comments from the previous year suggesting that violence was inevitable and that people needed to “fight back or you die.”
Political Responses to the Violence
Naomi Long, Northern Ireland’s justice minister, condemned the violence, attributing it to online commentators who would likely struggle to locate Belfast on a map.
“What distresses and disturbs me is there are those that prior to yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map, who are online, who are sharing incitement and encouragement for people and weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened to try and turn this into some kind of anti-immigration issue or a racist protest.”
“Ultimately if you’re driving people from their homes based on the colour of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way – it’s racism.”
Anna Turley, a Cabinet Office minister and chair of the Labour party, also highlighted social media’s role in escalating tensions.
“There are bad faith actors who are sitting often many, many miles away. It’s easy for them to stoke these things up.”
When asked if she was referring to Musk, Turley told Times Radio:
“He’s not living in the kind of communities where we’re seeing this kind of activity. He’s not at risk.
“He has a responsibility; everyone in public and civil life has a responsibility to call for calm and not to stoke grievance or hatred or division or tension that puts vulnerable people and our communities at risk.”
Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, criticized the delay in taking action against X. During Prime Minister’s Questions, he urged Starmer to intervene.
“The system clearly isn’t fit for purpose. It builds in delay after delay so platforms can get away with breaching their duties for ages before Ofcom does anything about it.”
In response, Starmer affirmed:
“We will crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division.”
When asked about practical measures, Starmer’s spokesperson referenced previous actions against X and other platforms, stating the Prime Minister “won’t hesitate to do that again.”
