The man behind a website which fuelled social upheaval across Britain has been identified by ITV as Farhan Asif from Pakistan.
Misinformation spread online in the wake of the tragic Southport stabbings identified the attacker – now named as British-born 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana – as being a small boats migrant of Muslim descent.
Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, highlighted a number of high-profile online figures, including Laurence Fox and former kickboxer Andrew Tate, who were “sharing that false information” on X, formerly Twitter.
A number of experts said this misinformation had been used by a “vocal minority” to sow division and “fuel their own agenda and trigger a summer of thrill-seeking impulsive insurrection” following violent disorder in Southport, London and Hartlepool in the days since the attack.
John Coxhead, a professor of policing at Staffordshire University, said groups were being “cynically stirred up by opportunistic populists with nothing better to do”.
Social media giant X has come under increased scrutiny since being taken over by billionaire Elon Musk in late 2022.
Musk’s approach to running the platform has been heavily criticised after he substantially cut staff numbers and rowed back on the site’s verification and content moderation systems, claiming he wanted to allow “absolute free speech” on the site.
Under his leadership, the company has also restored the accounts of many figures previously banned for breaking site rules around hate speech, including far-right figures in the UK such as Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and Katie Hopkins.
Since then, many users claim to have seen an increase in hateful content, as well as pornography and spam posts and accounts, despite Mr Musk claiming he would “defeat the bots” after taking over the company.
Related: Starmer warns social media firms over misinformation sparking violent disorder
