New research reveals that a year after the UK summer riots, which were initially fuelled by false claims on social media, X continues to let incitement to violence against Muslims and migrants go unchecked.

LONDON – Tuesday 15^th July 2025: A year after the Southport stabbings and the riots that followed, new research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) finds that X remains a breeding ground for incitement of harm targeting Muslims and migrants. Looking at six high-profile hateful figures previously researched, the new findings show that graphic calls for violence against Muslims and migrants have proliferated in the replies and have consistently remained unmoderated. By allowing such material to spread unchecked, X fails to enforce its own rules against violence and hate and puts public safety at risk.  

One year ago, a 17-year-old British citizen murdered three children and injured ten during a Taylor Swift–themed dance class. Instead of uniting in grief, hateful influencers seized on the tragedy to spread false claims that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. These baseless accusations ignited violent real-life anti-migrant and anti-Muslim riots.  

In August 2024, CCDH identified six high-profile figures on the X social media platform – Tommy Robinson, Paul Golding, Ashlea Simon, Andrew Tate, Laurence Fox, and Calvin Robinson – as key figures in spreading false or misleading claims linking Muslims and migrants to the Southport attack.  

Today, CCDH revisits X and these six accounts with new research revealing that the platform has learned nothing from last year’s events and continues to allow calls for violence to remain largely unchecked. Analysing 322 posts across the six profiles previously studied, CCDH uncovered over 4,300 replies¹ which included statements advocating for physical harm or even killing Muslims and migrants.  

In addition, all six accounts retain X Premium (formerly known as the verified “blue tick”), a status boosting their visibility, prioritising their posts in replies, and granting access to advanced publishing features. Three of these individuals – Laurence Fox, Calvin Robinson, and Andrew Tate – are able to earn money through X’s paid subscription model allowing them to monetise their content and effectively expand their influence on the platform. 

 Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate said: 

“The riots in 2024 made clear the danger that calls for violence, fuelled by lies, spreading unchecked on social media platforms pose to our society, to vulnerable communities, and to our national security.

X claims to have rules prohibiting incitement to violence, yet the platform continues to look the other way, leaving graphic and explicit calls for violence unmoderated, creating an environment where dangerous lies and hate spread freely. Those calls are amplified by the platform’s own algorithms and were promoted by the platform’s owner. Urgent action is necessary to address the situation with X, a platform that has haughtily dismissed both the truth of the tragedy in Southport and its own role in the riots.” 

As part of this research, CCDH also examined the response to the Liverpool parade incident of May 2025 and found that X continues to fall short in addressing hateful and misleading claims during emergency situations. Despite law enforcement’s efforts to communicate rapidly, clearly, and transparently after a vehicle mowed down spectators at the city’s victory parade, false narratives quickly spread on the platform. Misleading posts about the incident garnered over 29 million views, surpassing the reach of verified updates from sources like Sky News and Merseyside Police. Notably, only 2 out of 55 such posts carried Community Notes, highlighting the insufficiency of this Band Aid solution to a gushing torrent of lies, incitement and hate. 

This research highlights that not only is X failing to act on the same violent incitement that fuelled the summer riots, but the platform also continues to fall short in addressing hateful and misleading claims during emergency situations. Last year, false claims and violent incitement on social media led to riots on British streets. By continuing to host such content, X is actively endangering public safety. 

Notes to Editors 

• Full research & methodology can be found here 

• For more information or to arrange an interview, contact [email protected] 

• Examples of posts can be found in the research