LONDON — The British government said on Monday officials were examining the role foreign states had played in amplifying disinformation online which had helped fuel violent protests, while warning social media firms they had to do more to stop it.

Trouble flared last week following the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, a seaside town in northern England, after false messaging on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant.

Protests by anti-Islam and anti-immigration groups then spread to other towns and cities across Britain, with mosques and hotels housing migrants targeted, leading to violent clashes with police.

Jacob Davey, Director of Policy and Research at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD), said the flood of online disinformation and the role of social media firms themselves had been key.

“I don’t think we can underestimate how central the spread of this information is to the horrific events of the weekend,” he told Reuters.

In response, the government, which has for years accused countries such as Russia of seeking to sow discord, has said it was looking to see how much impact foreign states had in promoting the false messages.

“We have seen bot activity online, much of which may well be amplified or have the involvement of state actors, amplifying some of the disinformation and misinformation that we’ve seen,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.

“It is clearly something that is being looked at.”

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has also weighed in. Responding to a post on X that blamed mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”

Mr. Davey said disinformation was spread not just by those seeking to cause trouble but by the social media platforms themselves because of their business models’ algorithms which are set up to amplify a narrative online.

“You saw that in the trending in the UK topics, you saw that disinformation cropping up under searches for Southport … That business model side of things is really important.”

Disinformation was also pushed by high profile anti-immigrant activists. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson and previously the leader of the defunct anti-Islam English Defense League, has been blamed by media for spreading misinformation on X.

He had been banned from the platform in 2018, over the production of hateful content according to media reports at the time, but was reinstated after it was bought by Mr. Musk.

PLATFORM FOR HATE
Britain brought in a new Online Safety Act last year to tackle such issues as child sexual abuse and promoting suicide, but Professor Matthew Feldman, a specialist on right-wing extremism at the University of York, said it may not help in this situation.

It did not appear to cover “online incitement to offline criminality or disorder,” he said.

Mr. Feldman said far-right groups were less organized than they had been more than a decade ago when the likes of the British National Party could boast thousands of members. Now, no organization has more than a few hundred.

Despite that, they are highly visible. Modern technology was being exploited by extremists and influencers to capture attention, he said.

Nor had the trouble come out of nowhere, said the ISD’s Mr. Davey: there had been unrest outside migrant centers, disorder at last year’s Remembrance Day events, and thousands of people out in central London a few weeks ago to support Yaxley-Lennon.

“I think that this is really the accumulation of a much longer process whereby we’ve seen extremist groups become more confident,” he said. — Reuters

THE KILLING of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was intended to prolong the Gaza conflict, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Russia’s state news agency, adding that he will discuss the regional crisis with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

RIA, citing a diplomatic source, said Mr. Abbas will come on a long-expected visit to Moscow on Aug. 12-14.

Mr. Haniyeh, the political leader of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran last week in an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.

In an interview published by state news agency RIA on Tuesday, Mr. Abbas said he considers Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination “a cowardly act and a dangerous development in Israeli politics”.

“There is no doubt the purpose of Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination is to prolong the war and expand its scope,” he said. “It will have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations to end the aggression and withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza.”

The interview was published in Russian.

Mr. Haniyeh was the face of Hamas’ international diplomacy since the war started on Oct. 7, 2023, and had been taking part in internationally brokered efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

Iran, which backs Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza, has blamed Israel for the killing and said it will “punish” it. Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.

Mr. Abbas also told RIA that the Gaza Strip must be transferred to the control of the legitimate Palestinian authorities.

“We strongly oppose Israeli plans that provide for some temporary solutions,” he said.

COORDINATING WITH MOSCOW
Russia, which has forged close ties both with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Arab leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has condemned Mr. Haniyeh’s killing and called on all parties to refrain from further destabilization of Middle East.

It has also repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders.

Mr. Abbas told RIA that he plans to discuss the peace process in the region with Mr. Putin and coordinate positions.

“The main goal of our visit is to hold consultations and exchange views on the latest events in the Palestinian and international arenas, coordinate positions and strengthen bilateral relations in all areas,” RIA cited Mr. Abbas as saying. — Reuters

PARIS — The Paris Olympics will see a record number of hours of broadcast production, and ratings across many major territories are on a 12-year high, boosted by the city’s iconic landmarks that are integrated into these Games, the Olympics’ broadcasting chief said on Monday.

From the United States to host France and Australia, broadcasters are enjoying increased ratings across television and digital platforms with the first post-pandemic Olympics.

The Olympics have so far been a runaway hit for NBCUniversal, the Games’ biggest broadcasting partner, which achieved an advertising sales record amid a sharp rise in ratings.

Surveys show that one in four Americans say their work productivity has declined since the Games began, and half say they have rearranged their daily routines in order to watch the action, the Comcast-owned media company said last week.

For Yiannis Exarchos, Chief Executive Officer of Olympic Broadcasting Services, Paris landmarks such as the Eiffel tower, the Grand Palais and the Champs Elysees that have been integrated into the competition venues have been a major contributing factor.

“You can already tell these Games are a huge success,” Mr. Exarchos told Reuters. “France and Paris had a fantastic plan to bring sports back into the city. This vision has been fully embraced by media broadcasters and viewers from around the world.”

“I believe it is a highlight of these Games. This creates a moment which is unique, images that will remain in the collective memory. It is not just any other venue, the whole of Paris has become a stage.”

12-YEAR RATINGS HIGH
The Games’ opening ceremony along the river Seine attracted 28.6 million US viewers — the most-watched start to a Summer Games since London in 2012 — even though the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games had a more favorable time zone than Paris for the US audience.

In comparison, the Tokyo Games opening ceremony in 2021 drew 16.7 million viewers, the smallest US television audience for the event in 33 years at the time.

“There is huge media consumption around the world,” Mr. Exarchos said in the sprawling international broadcasting center on the outskirts of the city. “This is by far the largest production we have ever done.”

His staff of 8,300 people will be producing more than 11,000 hours of content — nearly 16% up from Tokyo — to feed the growing appetite of broadcasters and digital platforms for the Olympic product.

OBS is using new technologies such as AI, stroboscopic analysis to explain and highlight some of the 32 sports, and cinematic lenses that enhance story-telling.

“It is important that we produce content tailor-made for different types of platforms,” Mr. Exarchos said.

The return of fans to the venues after two Games due to COVID-19 further improves these Games’ visual image, he said

“Having spectators back in the heart of the city is a fantastic problem to have,” Mr. Exarchos said. “The design of the Games is so incredibly beautiful.” — Reuters