Suspected foreign state-backed actors and U.K. domestic extremists have coalesced online to stoke racism and incite violence across the U.K., taking advantage of platforms from TikTok to the messaging service Telegram.
Over the last 10 days, channels on the social media site Telegram, prominent accounts on X and self-described British patriots on ByteDance’s TikTok have pushed users to appear at centers for asylum-seekers and take part in demonstrations that later turned violent. Other accounts have spread false allegations about members of the Islamic community.
Along with homegrown posts, U.K. authorities now suspect foreign state-backed actors are using bots and accounts with stolen British identities on X to amplify anti-immigration sentiment, according to people familiar with the matter. Conversations between Russian-speaking trolls focused on how they have infiltrated channels on Telegram, a platform used by the British far-right to organize anti-Muslim demonstrations.
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