I have three new articles out on the role of social media in the violent disorder seen in Northern Ireland last week.

On Friday I was interviewed by Derek Healey for an article in The Sunday Post. We discussed whether further racist violence was likely over the summer, and the role of social media in fuelling this violence. I suggested that there was a playbook where far-right agitators like Tommy Robinson use their online presence to whip up tensions around immigration. A quote from the interview is below:

“The trouble is that if there’s a sum­mer where we have sev­eral incid­ents where viol­ent crimes or attacks are linked to people of col­our, or there is a sug­ges­tion by someone like Musk or Robin­son that this is about immig­rants, you could well see it play out again.”

The article can be read online here and is below:

I also have an op-ed published in the Times of Malta. This focused on the role of online agitators in the protests and related violence seen in Belfast last year.

Finally, I was interviewed by Vilma Romsi for an YLE (Finland) segment on the riots.

I argued that online platforms were being used to manufacture and manipulate anti-immigrant sentiments in the UK. I pointed out that right-wing agitators and certain media outlets talk a lot about the negative aspects of immigration. This has fuelled a perception within some working-class communities that they are to blame for the social and economic problems they face, irrespective of the evidence. A quote from the article (translated into English) is below:

“Social media influencers and traditional media are drumming up and clinging to immigration in a way that makes it seem like a big deal to ordinary people. In reality, the number of immigrants in Northern Ireland is relatively small,” Reilly says.

Thanks to Vilma for the interview, it can be read (in Finnish) here.