Several high-profile figures have been posting disclaimers on their social media feeds amid a government clampdown on accounts that spurred social unrest on the streets of Britain.
Dan Wootton, Bev Turner and David Vance are among a number of prominent individuals who have taken precautionary steps to protect their accounts from content that could have stirred “racial hatred” or cause “psychological or physical harm”.
The same disclaimer posted across numerous profiles reads:
None of the information posted or repeated on this account is known by its author to be false, nor intended to stir racial or any hatred of, nor cause psychological or physical harm to, any person or group of people (howsoever identified).
It comes in the wake of the UK riots in the wake of the Southport knife attack which were sparked after false rumours were spread on social media blaming a Muslim migrant for the heinous crimes.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to clamp down on social media accounts behind the uprisings in the UK, with several arrests made so far concerning people who disseminated hateful information.
Several high-profile accounts could be implicated, namely those which helped propagate the misleading claim that the Southport attacker was of Muslim descent and arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Disclaimers have been posted by individuals connected to right-wing channels, but according to The Secret Barrister, they could be utterly useless.
Posting on X, the account noted:
For those asking, this is about as effective a legal strategy as a bank robber donning a t-shirt reading “I AM NOT DISHONESTLY APPROPRIATING PROPERTY BELONGING TO ANOTHER WITH THE INTENTION OF PERMANENTLY DEPRIVING THE OTHER OF IT.”
Others have been quick to mock the disclaimers, suggesting that those posting them may well be fearful of their own social media content.
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