The administration had requested that the media regulator take into account the ways in which disinformation and unlawful content proliferated during the protests.
Following the July stabbings in Southport that preceded the unrest, Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes stated in an open letter outlining its findings that such content spread “widely and quickly” online.
The majority of online services, she claimed, took “rapid action,” but other businesses’ answers were “uneven.”
Millions of users saw posts from well-known accounts regarding the Southport incident and the events that followed, illustrating how algorithmic recommendations and virality can fuel divisive narratives in it.
According to experts, it demonstrates the authority and accountability that social media platforms possess.
Rashik Parmar of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, stated, “Ofcom is saying that social media posts inciting riots are not just words—they play a big part in fanning the flames of disorder.”
