UK Delays Action on X for 2 Months Over Northern Ireland Violence Posts
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
UK Delays Action on X for 2 Months Over Northern Ireland Violence Posts
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
Summary
At least two months will pass before X faces any formal UK action over posts accused of inciting Northern Ireland violence, because Ofcom is still waiting for the platform’s first quarterly compliance report.
Mid-July is the earliest ministers’ planned Online Safety Act changes could take effect, with Keir Starmer promising a crackdown but current rules leaving only an open warning letter to X and other platforms.
27 people were made homeless after mobs targeted ethnic minorities around Belfast, where vehicles and houses were burned following a knife attack that led to attempted murder charges against 30-year-old Hadi Alodid.
Elon Musk and other far-right agitators were accused of helping inflame tensions online, while police, ministers and the victim’s family urged calm and rejected retaliatory disorder.
The unrest has widened a national debate over migration and security, with former counter-terror policing chief Neil Basu calling far-right agitation Britain’s biggest current security threat.