There were calls for the EDL, founded by one of the UK’s better-known activists on the far right Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — better known as Tommy Robinson — to be proscribed. But according to experts, the EDL ceased to exist in any formal way more than a decade ago, even if some of Robinson’s followers — including at least one member of the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative — were spotted at the riots.

central themes of these far-right activists, particularly their vilification of immigrants, had been amplified in the mainstream, including by members of Rishi Sunak’s immediate past Conservative government - When more mainstream politicians are saying rather similar things, they are giving licence to those smaller groups, giving them greater legitimacy and purchase

the far right has evolved from the more formally organised racist outlets of old, such as the defunct British National party, into more fragmented, personality-driven splinter groups.

Their ability to whip up spontaneous protests — and spread disinformation — has been facilitated by viral online posts and recommendation algorithms on TikTok and X, as well as dedicated Telegram channels.

A “wider mesh” of splinter groups and personalities, who find common cause and whose capacity to organise spontaneously, has been greatly enhanced by social media...

Soon after the attack on Monday, a false name began spreading on X alongside posts alleging that the attacker had recently arrived in the UK via a small boat and that he was Muslim.

Recommendation algorithms — which typically promote posts that are receiving, or are likely to receive, high levels of engagement — helped amplify misinformation about the attacker.

far-right influencers and conspiracy theorists including Robinson, his ally “Danny Tommo”, the Reclaim party leader Laurence Fox and influencer Andrew Tate took advantage of a drastic situation and amplified the misinformation and disinformation to their base

Now we have riots all over UK because of a handful of social media influencers spreading bullshit, a handful of main stream media politicians who give they influencers some sort of legitimacy by echoing, over years, what they say = twats thinking they are actually doing some good by taking to the streets "to protect children"

....

The prime minister this week put social media platforms on notice, warning them that the incitement “clearly whipped online” was also a crime — and one happening on their “premises”.

he warned: "Inciting violence online is a criminal offence and that is not a matter of free speech. It is a criminal offence."

Last year, Britain adopted a law called the Online Safety Act that requires social media companies to introduce new protections for child safety, while also forcing the firms to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content like terrorism propaganda and revenge pornography.

But the law is less clear about how companies must treat misinformation and incendiary, xenophobic language

Instead, the law gives the British agency Ofcom, which oversees television and other traditional media formats, more authority to regulate online platforms. Thus far, the agency has not taken much action to tackle the issue

So, i can't see any threat by the PM actually being implemented unless there is a "loophole" found in the actual law, and the PM was the UK's leading prosecutor for years so, If there is a way he'd be the man to find it

There is so much misinformation and it’s being spread quite deliberately to stoke tension in communities

Al Baker, the managing director of Prose Intelligence, a British company that provides services for monitoring Telegram, said the online discourse was a reflection of wider societal challenges.

“It’s important not to go too far and say the internet is the cause,” Mr. Baker said. “The internet and social media are an accelerant that intensify existing problems we have as a society.”

The real problem is the people who are spreading misinformation knowingly and deliberately

Can we really blame social media companies, yes, some are partly to blame by not addressing it when its happening, the accounts who are clearly sharing it should be shut down as soon as possible not "promoted" by algorithms so more people see them.

Anyhooooo