The Southport riot brought to light the horrifying undercurrents in British politics | Owen Jones

On social media, the far right spread false claims about the suspect, playing into the bigotry of a rightwing populist ecosystem

How did we get from three little girls being hideously killed at a Taylor Swift dance class to boozed-up, far-right thugs rioting on the streets of Southport? The senseless killing of children understandably conjures up a very specific kind of revulsion and grief. But this was not what was on display close to the Southport mosque last night amid flying bricks, burning cars and anti-Muslim chants.

Attention must be paid to Twitter, now called X: it always had problems, but under Elon Musk’s watch it has become a cesspit of disinformation and far-right talking points. Social media spread unverified and indeed false claims – for instance, that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived by boat. In fact, he is a Cardiff-born Briton with “no known links to Islam”, in the words of the BBC. Indeed, the police are increasingly focusing their inquiries on the suspect’s mental health.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

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