Following the outbreak of civil unrest in the United Kingdom, the entire UK establishment blamed alleged “far-right influencers” for peddling online “disinformation,” which, it was said, “caused” riots. In response, the UK prime minister announced the government would take measures to “keep our streets safe.” When we look more closely, however, the far-right threat in the UK appears to have been manufactured by a public-private partnership that has attempted to legitimise the policy response. The reported “influencers” are not who we are told. Who is shaking the jar and why?
The anti-Muslim sentiments expressed by a minority of the protesters was repeatedly emphasised by the legacy media and the politicians. Yet, rather than make any attempt to resolve other genuine causes for concern, they completely ignored both the structural problems and the broader concerns of the protesters. Instead, they exploited the opportunity of civil unrest to exaggerate the claimed reach of so-called social media influencers and to falsely assert that those influencers’ posts on social media caused riots.
The disorder in Southport sparked more widespread discontent. Communities in other regions across the UK took to the streets to protest the impact of immigration in their communities. Adding to their resentment was a perception of biased policing and an unfair justice system—two-tier Britain—as well as an overall sense of inequality of opportunity in the political, economic, and social realms.
The civil unrest subsequent to the murders became a major story hyped by the entire UK legacy media. Any examination of the actual evidence relating to the murders was largely pushed aside. Instead, the state and its media minions focused their attention, laser-like, on what they were calling an “insurrection” and on its purported causes.
Almost immediately, they began blaming the widespread unrest on injudicious posts on social media—particularly on Elon Musk’s “X” (formerly Twitter) platform. Indeed, the state’s swift response was to try to censor social media, increase state surveillance, and quickly convict so-called “armchair rioters,” who were reportedly stoking resentment and provoking the “far-right riots” through the use of social media.
In his 1963 novel The Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut wrote about red ants and black ants in a jar. In his words:
Read More: Manufacturing the Far-Right: Who Is Shaking the Jar?