US EditionGrief, Mourning, Riots, Law Changes: What Has Happened Since the Southport Stabbings?
SOUTHPORT, JUL 29 – Full Fact reports government delays in tackling misinformation hindered efforts to prevent unrest after the Southport tragedy, with only 4.6% of Community Notes visible during the riots.
- On July 29, 2024, Axel Rudakubana, aged 17, carried out a 12-minute stabbing attack at a dance studio in Southport hosting an event centered around Taylor Swift’s music, resulting in the deaths of three young girls.
- Rudakubana was referred on multiple occasions by his teachers to the Prevent counterterrorism programme from 2019 to 2021 due to his preoccupation with violence, but the police dismissed each referral.
- Following the attack, violent protests and riots spread across 30 towns in England and Northern Ireland, fueled by misinformation falsely linking the attacker to asylum seekers and migrants.
- Studies revealed disinformation spread via niche echo chambers and was opportunistically amplified during crises, while only 4.6% of Community Notes aimed at countering false narratives were publicly visible during the riots.
- In response, the government has launched new Prevent guidance and oversight, vowed to strengthen referrals, and will clarify training for frontline workers by September, while a mentoring pilot for radicalisation risks begins August 1.
16 Articles
16 Articles
A year since UK Southport stabbing — and the disinformation that fueled hate
Data revealed a structured lifecycle of disinformation: Narratives were seeded in niche echo chambers, reinforced through repetition and community validation, and opportunistically amplified during crises
Southport Still Haunts Britain
One year ago today, a 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana walked into the Hart Street dance studio through the open front door. Here, 26 children were attending a dance and yoga workshop themed around the music of Taylor Swift. Armed with a kitchen knife, Rudakubana launched into a 12-minute long stabbing spree that would take the lives of three young girls—six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Agui…
How Prevent failed Southport - and the lessons that still need to be learned
The Southport killer had been referred to the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent several times before he carried out the mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.One year on from the murders of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, The i Paper looks at the Government’s Prevent programme – and what has changed in the months since the fatal attack.Southport killer slipped thr…
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