On Wednesday night, we saw marches standing up to racism, expressing solidarity with refugees and calling for peace across the United Kingdom, from Newcastle and Liverpool to Bristol, London and Birmingham.
After 8 nights of unrest and violence, it was a welcome relief, a sign of hope and a reminder that communities can come together to counter xenophobia, and that the rioters do not represent Britain.
We stand in solidarity with those targeted or affected by the violence of the past week and urge the government to prioritise human rights as it seeks to protect communities.
We hope the peaceful gatherings signal a tipping point. Nevertheless, we must confront the fact that the violence did not occur in a vacuum. Certain politicians, social media influencers, as well as some parts of the media, have for years consistently promoted discriminatory rhetoric against Muslims and migrants and exploited people’s grievances for their own political agenda. They must be challenged. We cannot allow dangerous dog whistle politics to continue to whip up division and fuel violence on the streets.
Social media companies must also do more to address the ways in which their own algorithms contribute to the spread of incitement – and the effect this can have on exacerbating offline violence in volatile situations. At the same time, calls to end anonymity online or holding platforms’ executives criminally liable for content posted by users will only lead to less safe online spaces and increased platform censorship, and fail to address the root causes of the issues we face.
The government has expressed its intention to use the full force of the law when dealing with the perpetrators of the recent violence. In doing so, it must not jeopardise our rights. We urge the government to halt its plan to use facial recognition in its policing strategy to deal with disorder. This technology amounts to mass surveillance, and as well as violating the right to freedom of expression and privacy, it is also ineffective in addressing crime. It will not make any of the affected communities safer.
The government’s first priority must be to protect communities and stop further violence. But it must also tackle racism and Islamophobia in society. We need strategies that address this challenge and focus on fostering tolerance and building narratives that unite, not divide, communities.
