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Violent protests in the UK, such as those at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, Essex, in recent days, demonstrate how the far right is intensifying the use of misinformation, aided by an unshackled social media realm, to spread fear, hate and calls for action that could explode into riots throughout the country.
The latest protests erupted almost exactly a year after the violent riots in Southport and clashes in various UK cities in the wake of the shocking killings of three young girls who were stabbed to death at a dance class. Days of riots took place across the country after the killer was quickly framed as a migrant, even though he was a UK-born teenager whose family came to the country from Rwanda in the 1990s.
The violent scenes in Epping could be indicative of something that goes beyond asylum seekers and a hotel, with some parties applying a new political ideology that mobilizes hate and civil discord for political gain. Locals distanced themselves from the violence, saying it is not what the area stands for and that nothing like this has ever previously stirred the calm of the middle-class suburban town with a population of 12,000.
The Epping protests began after a 38-year-old asylum seeker, who only arrived in the country in late June, was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual assault. Ugly crimes like this, whether committed by locals or newcomers, are common in every country of the world. But they should be dealt with by the police and the justice system, not activists or groups with ulterior motives, who want to capitalize on them and cause social strife.
Images from the protests have gone viral on social media, mirroring what happened last July in Southport. And, like Southport, the videos were picked up on by some groups from outside the community, which then capitalized on them to whip up anger and dismay. Police officers were even attacked as a result.
What makes the Epping protests particularly dangerous is that they seem to have followed on from similar antimigrant protests that erupted elsewhere. There have been demonstrations in the town of Diss in Norfolk, outside a similar hotel, and similar clashes lasted for several days in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, last month after two teenagers with Romanian roots were arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a young girl.
In Epping, northeast of London, eight police officers have been injured and more than 20 protesters arrested. Senior police leaders warned that the events were a “signal flare” for further unrest and a reminder of how little it takes for tensions to erupt, as well as how ill-prepared the police are.
All agents of the law agree that, like Southport last year, these protests were not the result of local grassroots movements. Rather, social media facilitated their coordination among extremist groups. It is only a matter of time until they shake the country’s civic cohesion, unless the authorities take steps to suppress the voices of discord. Some people are bent on spreading hate to raise their political profile and present themselves as protectors of the interests of the marginalized and dispossessed people of the nation, due to the so-called invasion of foreigners.
The claims of the leaders of Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, fall into this category and should not be ignored by the government. Farage said last week that Britain is “close to civil disobedience on a vast scale” and claimed that the protesters outside the asylum hotel in Epping were “genuinely concerned families,” even though many of the participants were wearing masks to hide their identity.
The problems posed by the protests become more acute in the light of such claims and when governments, not only in the UK, are under increasing pressure to do more during a time of slow economic growth.
The issue of migrants and migration has become politically perilous in the UK, putting pressure on Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left government as the anti-immigrant, far-right Reform rises in the polls.

As the tech realm is increasingly out of control, societies in the West are at the mercy of a rising far right.

Mohamed Chebaro

It is a no-brainer that immigration and deprivation are causing the public to lose faith in politicians, as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the government last week while she briefed ministers on a project she is leading that aims to improve social cohesion. According to Rayner, those two factors are leading causes of people’s disenchantment and loss of faith in government. But she also highlighted the role of social media and the increasing amount of time people are spending alone or online as possible factors leading to violent disturbances.
Many studies worldwide have reached similar conclusions, but most of the policies meant to address these factors have fallen short, as they fail to reach the core of the problem. Most Western democracies are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.
As the tech realm is increasingly out of control, societies in the West are at the mercy of a rising far right, which is gaining power by exploiting the anger lingering in many quarters of society due to inequality and deficient services, as well as a global economic downturn. Experts have been warning about the textbook acts of an international far right that is looking for systemic weaknesses it can use to influence societies for political or other gains.
Europe’s migration problem is the best entry point for aspiring far-right politicians and antiestablishment forces, which are themselves only vying for power, not for social justice or equality.
As soon as states recognize that the advocates of the far right are connected and organized — and that their preferred vehicle is a tech realm that is harming society through its unregulated and unsanctioned algorithm, which promotes toxic content and spreads sensational subjects — then remedies might be sought.
If they do not act, governments in the West will continue to grapple with ineffective solutions and will be swept away by the coming tsunami of discontent, which the far right will be ready to ride for its own ends.

• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.