{"id":292345,"date":"2024-08-04T07:11:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T07:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=292345"},"modified":"2024-08-06T06:25:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T06:25:15","slug":"uk-riots-the-agenda-becomes-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=292345","title":{"rendered":"UK Riots: The agenda becomes clear\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kit Knightly \u2013 Off Guardian Aug 2, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Those outside the UK might not have heard, but it\u2019s been a violent week in the UK. Here\u2019s a quick rundown of the official story so far:<\/p>\n

Four days ago a 17-year-old allegedly walked into a children\u2019s \u201cTaylor Swift dance class\u201d (whatever that might be) \u00a0in Southport and started stabbing little girls, wounding 10 and killing 3.<\/p>\n

It was initially reported the boy was a muslim immigrant.<\/p>\n

This story was, however, reversed within hours, the new story \u201crevealing\u201d that he was actually born in Cardiff, the son of Rwandan immigrants. He was named as \u201cAxel Muganwa Rudakubana\u201d late yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His \u00a0religious affiliation, if any, seems not to have been firmly established.<\/p>\n

Another young man was, allegedly, \u00a0arrested later while in possession of a machete and balaclava at \u00a0a vigil for the victims<\/a>. He was, again, reportedly Muslim.<\/p>\n

This, allegedly, resulted in what are described as protests and riots, the destruction of a brick wall outside a mosque and the burning of a police van.<\/p>\n

Further alleged riots subsequently sprang up in London<\/a> and Hartlepool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is the current narrative. None of the details has been substantiated as yet, so how much you decide to believe is your personal preference at this point.<\/p>\n

At OffG we reserve the right to be sceptical. Of everything<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of unanswered questions, and the current level of \u00a0\u201cmourning\u201d<\/a> by government institutions and groups in no way directly affected \u00a0by the tragedy always has a taint of the performative that shouldn\u2019t be too quickly conflated with \u00a0insincerity or worse.<\/p>\n

And, of course, all of this is coming hot on the heels of the Manchester Airport incident<\/a>, where police officers and Muslim youths allegedly clashed violently in as yet obscure circumstances.<\/p>\n

Plus the violence in Whitechapel<\/a> and Leeds a couple of weeks ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then, as now, both sides were provided with adequate rage-bait to get them worked up.<\/p>\n

Whatever the truth of this latest incident, and whatever long term aims it might be used to further, this \u201cstrategy of tension\u201d has an immediate political agenda already becoming clear \u2013 and it\u2019s as predictable as ever.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Further limit social media\/free speech<\/li>\n
  2. Normalise constant surveillance<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Attacking free speech is the ever-present, eternal agenda that comes before everything else and it\u2019s been a real pile-on the last few days.<\/p>\n

    The Hill headlines<\/a> \u201cMisinformation floods social media in wake of breakneck news cycle\u201d<\/em>, Sky News went with<\/a> \u201cSouthport attack misinformation fuels far-right discourse on social media\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    ABC News reports<\/a>: \u201cOnline misinformation fueled tensions over the stabbing attack in Britain that killed 3 children\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    The Byline Times collectively scolds society\u2019s negligence<\/a>: \u201c\u2018We All Need To Consider Our Role in the Wild West of Social Media Hypercriminality\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (an NGO funded by the usual suspects<\/a>) has timelined it all for our convenience: From rumours to riots: How online misinformation fuelled violence in the aftermath of the Southport attack<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

    The BBC asks<\/a> \u201cDid social media fan the flames of riot in Southport?\u201d<\/em> and Telepgraph answers very much in the affirmative<\/a>, cutting right to the heart of the matter [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

    Unregulated<\/strong> social media disinformation is wrecking Britain \u2013 Free speech must come with accountability<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The Times skips past establishing the problem right to apportioning blame: \u201cWho is behind Southport social media storm \u2014 and can they be stopped?\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    The Guardian has decided the answer is TikTok (and AI): \u201cHow TikTok bots and AI have powered a resurgence in UK far-right violence\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

    The New York Times demands to know<\/a> what social media companies are going to do about it:<\/p>\n

    The U.K. Riots Were Fomented Online. Will Social Media Companies Act?<\/p>\n

    One particularly drunk uncle decided the whole thing is Putin\u2019s fault<\/a>, for some reason, but most of the fire is directed at Twitter\/X.<\/p>\n

    Writing in Prospect<\/a>, former-Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger claims \u201cElon Musk\u2019s misinformation machine made the horrors of Southport much worse\u201d<\/em>, while Forbes wails<\/a> \u201cElon Musk Isn\u2019t Stopping Misinformation, He\u2019s Helped Spread It\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    This is dual-purpose propaganda, it attacks the idea of free speech but also reinforces Musk\/X\u2019s totally false<\/strong><\/em> reputation as the savior of free expression.<\/p>\n

    You cannot begin to fathom how irritating it is to the ruling class that ordinary people are allowed to just say whatever they want whenever they want \u2013 including having the audacity to fact check the media in real time, with no repercussions at all.<\/p>\n

    That, more than anything else, has stalled the Great Reset in its tracks.<\/p>\n

    So it has to go.<\/p>\n

    Finally and forever.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s why \u00a0almost everything in the news cycle \u2013 from disease to climate change \u2013 can \u00a0allegedly be \u201csolved\u201d with censorship.<\/p>\n

    Because once free speech is abolished everything that comes afterward gets so much easier \u2013 including the second agenda being pushed right now: Mass surveillance and facial recognition technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

    When it comes to this secondary goal the media are yet to reach the \u201ccall for action\u201d phase. They are still locked into \u201cfearmongering\u201d, with widespread warnings about nineteen future \u201cfar-right\u201d marches and calls to proscribe Tommy Robinson\u2019s EDL as a \u201cterrorist organization\u201d<\/p>\n

    Which, again, has the useful secondary effect of making this gentleman look more like a genuine force for opposition.<\/p>\n

    Funnily enough, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was already discussing giving police \u201cnew powers to crackdown on antisocial behaviour\u201d just a day before<\/a> the Southport attack occurred.<\/p>\n

    But it fell to Prime Minister Sir<\/em> Keir Starmer to formally lay it out in his address yesterday afternoon [transcript<\/a>].<\/p>\n

    Pledging to counter the \u201cfar-right\u201d with a new police division, and increased use of surveillance and facial recognition technology to \u201climit their movements\u201d:<\/p>\n

    Wider deployment of facial recognition technology\u2026And preventive action \u2013 criminal behaviour orders\u2026To restrict their movements\u2026<\/p>\n

    And firing a warning shot across the bows of social media<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    And let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them\u2026Violent disorder clearly whipped up online\u2026That is also a crime. It\u2019s happening on your premises. And the law must be upheld everywhere.<\/p>\n

    He even pointedly made clear his response wasn\u2019t just about now <\/em>or about countering the \u201cfar-right\u201d, rather it was about ALL civil disobedience, for any reason:<\/p>\n

    A response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred. But als \u201call violent disorder that flares up [\u2026] whatever the apparent cause or motivation<\/strong> \u2013 we make no distinction\u2026Crime is crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

    That means everything<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    It means pro-free speech rallies, it means \u201cbladerunners\u201d cutting down ULEZ cameras. It means any potential anti-lockdown and\/or anti-vaccine mandate protests during \u201cthe next pandemic\u201d.<\/p>\n

    This is the beginning of a new crackdown on digital free speech and real-world protest\u2026<\/p>\n

    and people are cheering him on, of course. Because they believe the State is our only shield from the nasty brick throwing baddies of the far-right.<\/p>\n

    To sum up the last three days in British politics for those not well versed in reading past headlines \u00a0and propaganda:<\/p>\n

    For the cost of one broken wall and a burnt out police van, the new \u201cLabour\u201d government have just won public approval for new police powers and open season being called on \u00a0what remains of our free speech \u2013 and they get to distract from the now-inevitable tax raises too<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Not a bad trade.<\/p>\n

    —<\/p>\n

    Support Off Guardian:<\/p>\n

    Ko-fi<\/a><\/p>\n

    Subscribestar<\/a><\/p>\n

    Paypal\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Kit Knightly wonders if the new Labour government is cynically using the rioting that followed the murders of three little girls in Southport to further clampdown on free speech? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":292347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292346,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292345\/revisions\/292346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/292347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}