After Belfast riots, UK reminds social platforms they're obligated to remove hateful content
Key takeaways
- X owner Elon Musk seems to be among those encouraging violence.
- The letter comes in the wake of civil unrest in Belfast.
- Content containing hate towards immigrants or misinformation about the attack has spread broadly on social media.
X owner Elon Musk seems to be among those encouraging violence.
Ascannio/Shutterstock Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has published an open letter reminding social platforms of their legal obligation to heed the Online Safety Act 2023, which requires platforms to "assess and mitigate the risks of illegal activity" including "content amounting to offenses of stirring up hatred or provoking violence." Platforms are furthermore asked to "reduce the risk of illegal content appearing," with Ofcom providing lengthy guidance on what constitutes illegal content.
The letter comes in the wake of civil unrest in Belfast. Monday, a Dublin man was stabbed in the street in an apparent knife attack; the assailant, a Sudanese national, was charged with attempted murder on Tuesday. The race and presumed immigration status on the attacker quickly became fodder for politicization among far-right anti-immigration figures in the UK. Overnight, Belfast became the center of a riot in which several homes in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods were set on fire by masked men, according to the Washington Post.