The unconscionable stabbing of three young girls in Southport on July 29th devastated and horrified us all in equal measure. But when its aftermath triggers a vicious spread of Islamophobic violence across many communities in the UK, it hammers home the reality of how low reactionary right wing individuals will stoop as an excuse to spread hatred. But how has misinformation fuelled such a destructive and disgraceful backlash?

What is blatantly infuriating is the opportunistic nature of this reaction from the far right. Make no mistake — their riotous rampages that served to “take their countries back” were acts of domestic terrorism. It was never about those three innocent girls.

The Southport Mosque and Islamic Centre were targeted a mere two days after the tragedy, with supposed EDL members trapping worshippers inside and hurling bricks and fireworks. With this, the entire reaction becomes even more exasperating — this all boils down to the circulation of an entirely false claim that perpetrator of the Southport attack was Muslim.

But we all know the recent record of British right-wing politics that loves to perpetrate divisive and racist rhetoric. Not so shockingly, “accountability” is not a British value enacted by these thugs.

Unsurprisingly, the rioters did not accept this blunder of misinformation perpetrated by the gangs of racist agitators on X that share their own toxic views. They continued throughout the country last week, targeting mosques in Sunderland to protect “their streets”. What better way to protect your own community than to destroy its valuable resources?

Equally shameful, these individuals took to torching the newly refurbished Spellow Library in Liverpool, a valued community hub that is already having its resources stretched. You are probably thinking the same as most of us — isn’t it utterly baffling that these individuals used the tragedy of Southport as an excuse for violence in the first place, got the facts wrong, yet continued to cause unrest in their own communities in light of those facts?

But, given the seemingly endless swathes of divisive right-wing rhetoric plaguing our politics in in recent years, is it any wonder?

Take X for instance. As Arwa Madhari points out on an article on the same matter, it has become a “far right social network headed by CEO who revels in chaos”.

If anything, the platform itself is so poisoned with garnering support for this hateful movement through the very spread of misinformation itself. You only have to take a look on there to see, with many being favoured by the sites’ algorithm. Labour MP Noah Law disabled his account this week due to the rise of right wing fringe groups, which is surprising considering the meteoric rise of X as a conduit of major announcements for many politicians.

Equally mind-blowing is the gall of right-wing puppet masters such as Nigel Farage. It should be crystal clear by now that he is a literal poster boy for the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. He is a known agent of the very misinformation that echoes in the fascistic chants of the thugs destroying their own communities, yet he brusquely claimed he had no part in stoking this violence.

This awful reaction of the far right would not have been fuelled so violently if it were not for the hateful rhetoric spewed by Farage and his cronies — a pattern we’ve witnessed for years… but X exacerbates this. It cannot be ignored that the site favours this rhetoric and amplifies prejudice. All we can do is stand up to this hatred and counter the narrative with truth, working towards more unity and understanding in our communities.

If one positive can be drawn from this, it’s the resistance we have all seen towards these vile groups across the country – lets continue to hold them to account with the truth.

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