The Southport knife attack, disinformation online and how extremist groups (Far right and Incels) have reacted

Key Judgements:

• Disinformation was spread online on X, far right telegram channels and on Incel forums after a knife attack at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport, United Kingdom, resulted in the deaths of three young girls and injured eight other children including two adults.
• As a result of this disinformation being spread online about the identity of the attacker and the false claim that he was a “Muslim Immigrant” riots erupted between protestors and the police in multiple locations across the country. This shows that disinformation and false narratives can rile people up to believe ‘facts’ that are false.
• The Far right and Incel groups have taken advantage of the Southport attack to encourage violence, unrest and to promote their own extremist views and narratives.

On July 29, 2024, a 17-year-old boy armed with a knife carried out an attack at a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga class which was taking place at the Heart Space Community Hub in Southport, London, United Kingdom. The class at the time of the attack was fully booked with 25 children. At the time of the attack, the attacker walked inside the venue and began stabbing multiple children and two adults. The attack resulted in the deaths of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, with the attacker also injuring eight other children, (five who are in critical condition) and critically injuring two adults. The two adults who were critically injured are believed to have been trying to protect the children at the time of the attack. Merseyside Police first received calls of the attack taking place at 11:47am and responded to the incident rapidly, with armed police arresting the 17-year-old and seizing the knife from him. The incident is not being treated as terror related and inquiries are still ongoing in establishing the motive behind the attack. At the time of writing, police are focusing specifically on the perpetrator’s mental health in the years leading up to the attack.

The 17-year-old boy who carried out the Southport attack is from Banks, a Lancashire village just to the north of Southport. He is originally from Cardiff and moved to the Southport area in 2013. His parents are from Rwanda. The teenagers father worked as a taxi driver, and he has no ties to Islam nor holds any religious beliefs.  The details published about the attacker in the aftermath of the Southport attack were vague, with police stating that he was 17 and from Cardiff. Due to his age, the teenager cannot be named for legal reasons and no photos have been published of him online. The mix of vague details along with no photo of the perpetrator amplified online speculation, encouraging heaps of disinformation being spread about who the perpetrator was. Disinformation began spreading as soon as news of the attack was released, with accounts on X and far right channels on telegram promoting false narratives about the attacker. One account on X known as European Invasion has 360,000 followers and posted online falsely claiming that the suspect was “a Muslim Immigrant”. This post was seen by almost four million people on X. Andrew Tate amplified this false narrative by posting that the attacker was an “illegal immigrant”. The false narrative of the attacker being an “illegal immigrant” and that he was “Muslim” rapidly spread online. Soon after this a very specific bit of disinformation appeared online, claiming that the attacker was called “Ali Al-Shakati” and that he had arrived in the UK illegally last year on a boat.

The first account to mention the name “Ali Al-Shakati” was @artemisfornow in a post on X at 16:49pm on July 29, 2024. The account has 44,700 followers. By July 30 their tweet had been seen by “almost 1.5 [million] people”. This post has now been deleted.  One account on X, known as ‘The Based Paddy’ (@basedpaddy) reaffirmed the false narrative that the attacker’s name was “Ali Al-Shakati” and spread unverified claims adding that “he was on the MI6 watchlist”. Nigel Farage amplified this narrative by requesting scrutiny on the unevidenced claim that the attacker had been monitored by the security services, adding to the already piling mountain of disinformation and misinformation narratives that were circling online. Smaller accounts on X continued to spread disinformation about that the attacker was “Ali Al-Shakati”, resulting in a significant amount of people online seeing and engaging in the false narratives and disinformation. Disinformation surrounding the identity of the Southport attacker as well as other narratives in total reached “more people compared to the posts denouncing the misinformation managed to reach” on X.

The disinformation posted online was interpreted by the far right to be ‘fact’ and ‘true’ leading to these false narratives making their way into far-right telegram channels where users actively called for violence and to “begin the fight”. Within hours of the attack, far-right groups on Telegram called “for people to take to the streets not just in Southport, but across the country”.  One telegram channel set up after the Southport attack, promoted in a post for “English lads [to] rise up” and encouraged people to gather outside the Southport Mosque with their faces covered. With no image of the teenage attacker being shared online, far right groups on telegram have shared images of other people, claiming that they were the attacker. These images include an image of a knifeman who carried out an attack in France as well as an image of “an older black man held up against a police car”. These types of images posted on far-right channels are accompanied by incorrect information claiming that the attacker is not 17 years old. The far-right’s activity online shows that they are using the Southport attack incident to promote and encourage others to engage in their extremist views. Other extremist groups such as Incels have praised the attacker for attacking female victims, with one of the largest Incel forums online having multiple posts about this. This shows that Incels are taking advantage of the situation to promote their own extremist views online.

As a result of all of this disinformation being spread online, far-right fueled riots and violent protests have been seen across the United Kingdom. In central London more than 100 people were arrested on July 31 after officers clashed with protesters at Whitehall. The protesters were a part of the “Enough is Enough” demonstration. A poster for the Enough is Enough protest was shared online by a far-right activist with links to Patriotic Alternative, a British far-right, fascist, neo-nazi and white nationalist hate group. During the protest in London, “people could be heard chanting phrases such as “stop the boats” and “save our kids” as they threw bottles and cans at officers”. The disorder seen at the protest was blamed on the spread of disinformation online. In a separate incident, eight people were arrested in Hartlepool in a protest that was linked to the Southport knife attack. Police officers were attacked with glass bottles and eggs during the protest and a police car was set ablaze. In another separate incident, people protested outside a hotel in Aldershot, Hampshire. They were holding placards with slogans such as “no apartments for illegals” and “deport them, don’t support them”. Far-right fueled riots also occurred in Southport on July 30, which resulted in 53 police officers being injured. It has been estimated that between 200 -300 people were involved in the riots and that they were there “purely for hooliganism and thuggery”. Many involved in the riots are highly likely to have been there because of disinformation that they had seen online.

The riots and violent protests that have occurred in multiple locations across the country because of online disinformation and the fueling of extremist views online prove that the three key judgements outlined at the top of this report are correct and accurate judgements. Disinformation was actively spread online following the attack; the far right and the incels have taken advantage of this event; and violent riots/protests have occurred in the wake of the Southport attack. What is clear from the evidence and analysis presented in this report is that disinformation and false narratives can lead people to believe ‘facts’ that are in reality complete and utter fabrications.