Over the past 12 days, the UK has been rocked by a shocking wave of far-right riots which have highlighted the dangerously symbiotic relationship between online extremism and real world violence. As those up and down the UK and around the world sought to make sense of the violence, ISD analysts have provided commentary to a broad range of media including the BBC’s Today programme on the growth of the UK far-right and BBC Newsnight on the radicalisation of young men; the New York Times on social media platforms’ failure to enforce their terms of service; and CNN on the role algorithms played in amplifying dangerous false claims.
Our rapid response research has focused on how online misinformation quickly translated into offline violence in the wake of the Southport stabbing; how far-right extremists targeted hate against Muslim and migrant communities; and how the decentralised online networks at the heart of this violence mobilised quickly and effectively. Our teams have used our analysis to engage with impacted communities, law enforcement, policymakers and regulators dealing with the fallout of the largest far-right extremist mobilisation in many years.
Because the violence seems to have largely subsided for now, we find ourselves at an inflection point where people are asking how we got here and what comes next. Over the coming weeks, ISD will focus on the longer-term policy implications including the prevention of future far-right violence, the need for a renewed cross-governmental counter extremism strategy, and the importance of strengthening regulatory responses for social media platforms. We look forward to engaging with partners around these important issues in the weeks ahead.
For now, this Insights summarises what we have learned about the riots and ISD’s analysis on the path forwards. | 
