Online misinformation influenced actions of ‘increasingly younger demographic’ during riots, warn police chiefs

Seventeen per cent of those arrested in relation to the summer riots and disorder were under the age of 18, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has revealed.

At this week’s Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and NPCC Partnership Summit in London, police chiefs outlined the role that misinformation played in the riots and disorder over the summer and the devastating impact it had on communities.

“After the tragic killing of three young girls in Southport in July, widespread unrest spilled into violence and disorder in communities across England and Wales,” said the NPCC. “The cost to policing these incidents stands at £31.7 million as mutual aid was deployed across the country, a cost that is expected to rise.”

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, head of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC), said: “I am incredibly proud of the way that policing pulled together to deploy officers to protect the communities most at risk.

“The disorder was one of the biggest challenges to national policing since the 2011 riots and was the first time the National Mobilisation Plan was evoked by NPoCC, which releases officers from forces to be deployed to the worst affected areas.”

During the 12-day period of rioting, more than 40,000 hours’ worth of shifts for public order officers were stood up to protect communities from the violence and disorder. The estimated cost of the police operation stands at £31.7 million, a cost that is expected to rise.

Police chiefs reflected on how exposure to misinformation and harmful ideologies online are influencing the actions of an increasingly younger demographic.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “As well as responsible ownership of technology companies and the international work of government to stop misinformation spreading online, we need to equip people to know how to deal with false information.

“It’s too late to wait to de-bunk misinformation that has real-world consequences, we need to get into classrooms so we can ‘pre-bunk’ and teach young people how to respond to this online content.”

Noting the impact this had on communities, West Mercia police and crime commissioner John Campion, said: “Some felt they had legitimate cause to protest, some were hell bent on causing violence and damage. We need to ensure that the public have accurate information to stop this from happening again. It’s about having the right information out there that people can believe in.”