Foreign accounts dominate discourse on UK unrest, analysis finds
Experts warn overseas actors are exploiting civil disorder to amplify divisive narratives, with US-based commentators driving the most-read content.
A majority of social media accounts generating significant engagement regarding the June 2026 unrest in Belfast and Southampton were based outside the United Kingdom, according to an analysis by The Guardian. The study indicates that 55% of the accounts posting about the disorder were located overseas, raising concerns about foreign influence on domestic civil discourse.
Of the 8,672 accounts whose posts exceeded 1,000 views, only 45.3% were identified as being based in the UK. The United States accounted for 16.8% of these high-engagement accounts, followed by Ireland at 4.5%, with approximately a quarter originating from other European nations. Seven of the 12 most-read tweets about the unrest originated from the US, including content from Elon Musk and US right-wing commentators, while an eighth was linked to North America.
The analysis examined 43,000 tweets mentioning Belfast, Southampton, Henry Nowak, or Vickrum Digwa during the periods of unrest in both cities. Nearly a third of the posts contained racist or anti-immigration comments. For content specifically relating to Belfast, almost one in 10 tweets contained calls for violence or paramilitary action.
High-profile engagement was driven by accounts with clear political alignments. Musk’s post regarding the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer received more than 28 million views, while an account linked to US influencer Jack Posobiec posted a still image from the Belfast stabbing that garnered 16.3 million views. Other top-performing content came from UK-based figures, including Rupert Lowe and Konstantin Kisin, as well as US-based accounts that frequently changed their usernames.
Security experts and researchers have warned that overseas actors are exploiting these flashpoint events to amplify divisive narratives. Imran Ahmed of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate described X as a weapon for hostile actors seeking to incite violence in communities they do not inhabit. Fiona Hill, a former adviser to US and UK governments, described the UK as a soft target for online manipulation due to a lack of focus on civil defence.
