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A 28-year-old man in the UK has been sentenced to prison for making social media posts that prosecutors argued were meant to incite racial hatred and fuel ongoing anti-immigrant riots across the country.
Let’s bring you up to speed: The recent UK riots were ignited by false rumors spreading online, including claims that a Muslim immigrant was involved in the Southport stabbings that killed three children. These false accusations led to violent far-right protests across the country, with attacks targeting hotels housing illegal migrants who were claiming asylum.
What’s the deal: Jordan Parlour, a 28-year-old man, was sentenced to 20 months in jail after he admitted to posting a message on Facebook that incited racial hatred during recent anti-immigrant riots in the UK. In his post, Parlour encouraged attacks on a hotel housing asylum seekers, leading to actual violence at the site. He wrote, “Every man and his dog should smash [the] fuck out of Britannia hotel.”
What the judge said: During sentencing, Judge Guy Kearl KC said, “You took to social media in order to encourage others towards participation in the attacks upon the hotel. The initial post received six likes. However, it was sent to your 1,500 Facebook friends and, because of your lack of privacy settings, will have been forwarded to friends of your friends. The messages were therefore spread widely, which was plainly your intention. As is recognized on your behalf, this offense is so serious that an immediate custodial sentence is unavoidable.”
Links to foreign influence?: There are growing concerns that these riots may have been worsened by foreign influence, as disinformation campaigns focusing on immigration issues have previously been connected to foreign actors. The UK government has confirmed that they are investigating if a foreign actor “amplified” the protests in an effort to cause unrest. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said, “We have seen bot activity online, much of which may well be amplified or have the involvement of state actors, amplifying some of the disinformation and misinformation that we’ve seen.”