Misinformation in Southport ‘turbocharged’ by foreign bots online

The UK’s counter-terrorism police officer has said the spread of misinformation during the post-Southport riots was “overloaded” by foreign bots.

Matt Jukes also lashed out at “unhelpful” local commentators who knew police could not release certain information during ongoing court proceedings but presented it as a conspiracy.

Latest figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show police disorder cost £31.7m over the summer.

Reform England leader Nigel Farage is among those who claim the Southport murders were covered up.

So far, 1,590 people have been arrested, 17% of whom were children aged 17 and under.

Speaking to reporters at a policing conference in Westminster on Wednesday, Mr Jukes said: “The vast majority of these problematic messages online were local and driven by people living in our communities and stoking fear in those communities.

“But we’ve seen this being turbocharged by online bots. As we tracked the amount of traffic, hateful traffic, over a 24-hour period for days, we saw massive spikes around midnight, bots came into play.

“And we would see the automation of that reach happening, the amplification of those messages that were sometimes hateful, sometimes misinformation.”

Some of the bots are thought to be based in Russia.

A small percentage of disorder-related arrests were for online crimes, while the remainder were for real-life disorder or violence.

Mr Jukes continued: “A myth has emerged that the thought police are arresting hundreds of people for having opinions.

“And the reality is that hundreds of people who were arrested were arrested because they were suspected of being involved in violence, criminal damage and direct harm to communities.”

He also lashed out at online commenters who claimed information about the Southport investigation had been suppressed.

“We need responsible commentators,” Mr Jukes said. “It does no good for those I suspect to know full well what the restrictions are on reporting during ongoing legal proceedings, pointing to limited disclosures or restrictions on what can be said as evidence of a cover-up and conspiracy.”

He also called on social media platforms to take responsibility for misinformation.

“One of the groups that caused turmoil over the summer was over 10,000 people at Telegram, a company that has, I think, 900 million users and recently hit the 100-staff zone,” Mr. Jukes said.

“So there is a need for responsible investment by governments in law enforcement, governments in regulatory agencies, and people who make billions of dollars from the information environment.”