The riots triggered a nationwide crackdown on disorder and online dissent. Dozens of British towns and cities were rocked by right-wing protests and riots earlier this month after a British teenager of Rwandan descent stabbed three children to death and injured ten others in the town of Southport, near Liverpool. Initially sparked by a false rumor that the knifeman was a Muslim immigrant, the demonstrations spiraled into a wider backlash against Islam and mass immigration, culminating in an arson attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in the town of Rotherham.
According to a survey of 2,237 people carried out by polling firm Savanta and published by The Telegraph, 82% of Britons believe that the rioters themselves were responsible for the unrest, followed by 75% who pin the blame on far-right groups and influencers. However, 64% believe that Britain’s immigration policy is ultimately to blame, while 59% say the Southport stabbings triggered the crisis, RT reported. British authorities responded to the riots in draconian fashion, with more than 1,000 people arrested, 480 charged, and 99 sentenced for their role in the disorder, according to figures published by the BBC on Friday.
Around 30 people have been charged for online offenses, with a 34-year-old man sentenced to three months in jail for sharing what the BBC called a “derogatory meme about migrants,” and a 55-year-old woman arrested for sharing “inaccurate” information about the identity of the Southport kil.