Elon Musk’s X will face no action to remove a mass of posts inciting violence in Northern Ireland for at least two months – despite widespread condemnation of the platform. its billionaire owner, write Peter Walker, Hannah Al-Othman, Rory Carroll and Vikram Dodd.
Concern over the role social media played in spreading disturbing images. fuelling anger continued to grow on Wednesday as police and community leaders urged calm.
They feared a repeat of the violence that erupted on Tuesday evening, when crowds, including masked men, burned vehicles. houses, and blocked roads in and around Belfast.
Locals from ethnic minorities were targeted in what one Northern Ireland MP called “a race-based pogrom”.
Earlier, Musk rejected claims that he is to blame for inciting disorder in Belfast.
Keir Starmer vowed on Wednesday to crack down on anyone fuelling such divisions,. said there was no justification for the scenes of violence and disorder.
Ministers plan to amend the Online Safety Act to require social media firms to act more quickly to remove inflammatory content during riots or other crises,. this will not take effect until mid-July at the earliest.
In the meantime, the government will leave any official reprimand of X to Ofcom. The media regulator is awaiting a first quarterly report on compliance from X,. this is not due for at least two months.
As the fire continued to burn. a white van was driven into the flames, and, according to onlookers, an empty cottage close to the police line had also caught fire.
The crowd began to move back as the fire spread closer to a nearby petrol station. with one masked riot saying: “that’s gonna blow.”
The driver of the van had reportedly jumped out. left the van in gear, and allowed the vehicle to roll onto the flames, as police officers tried to extinguish the fire.
The sharing of false information on social media is “deeply distressing”. should stop, the family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of Monday night’s knife attack in Belfast, has said in a statement issued through the PSNI, adding that they had been left “feeling disgusted” by the disorder.
Ogilvie’s family have said he is in a stable condition.
The statement read: “We are completely devastated by the horrific attack on our loved one on Kinnaird Avenue. This has been a massive shock to our whole family,. right now, our only priority is being at his bedside and helping him recover.
“We have witnessed a lot of false information circulating on social media which is now forcing us to clarify that our loved one is in fact in a stable condition,. we are solely focused on his recovery at this time.
“We are also appealing to the media and the public to please give us some space. We need privacy to focus on our family right now. without cameras or people speculating about what happened via social media.
“We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes. unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened. We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family,. peaceful protest is only ever the way forward. We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system. hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility - do not do this in the name of our loved one as we do not share the same values.
“We also wish to say a profound thank you to the local people who bravely stepped in during the attack. Your quick actions absolutely saved his life, and we will never forget what you did for him in that moment. We also want to thank the emergency services and the doctors and nurses looking after him.
“If you know anything at all about the attack, or saw anything strange near Kinnaird Avenue, please go to the police. stop sharing false information on social media, as it is deeply distressing.
“Thank you for respecting our privacy.”
Rioters have attempted to set fire to a property near a petrol station in Newtownabbey. with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines.
Footage showed masked demonstrators using a car. wheelie bins to start a large fire and form a barricade on Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, down the road from riot police.
Some rioters ran towards the police line and threw petrol bombs towards officers and vehicles.
As darkness began to fall,. with the flames of the bonfire reaching two metres high, police again deployed water cannons and played a recorded message warning the crowd to “disperse immediately” saying force would be used against “violent individuals”.
Police have asked the public to avoid the Antrim Road area in Glengormley as officers continue to deal with disorder.
A police spokesperson confirmed that missiles, including bricks, bottles. masonry, have been thrown at police, and a bin has been set alight.
At the other side of the barricade, facing the line of riot police, the mob had set a bonfire in the street, using petrol to burn wheelie bins, tyres. furniture.
Some threw petrol bombs onto the flames. while others threw fireworks at police, as a huge plume of acrid black smoke stretched skywards.
By 10.30pm there were still two to three hundred rioters and onlookers out on the street as the clashes continued.
A large Department for Infrastructure vehicle was in flames as demonstrators confronted the police after they gathered near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey to the north west of Belfast.
Footage showed dozens of men dressed all in black. wearing face coverings gathering on Antrim Road, where they could be seen tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at riot police.
They could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.
Balaclava-clad rioters also broke open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station. removed a garden fence to use as a shield against the police water cannon.
Videos shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel, with riot police. several vans being deployed to manage the demonstrations.
At one point, police turned the water cannons on the gathered spectators, who briefly pushed back further into the park. Later, one onlooker had to be given first aid by armed police after being hit on the head by a flying rock. taken to hospital by ambulance.
One police officer was also struck on the head, but not believed to be seriously injured. One of the police vehicles also lost a wing mirror after being attacked.
Riot police have run towards masked people who attempted to hit them with bricks and other projectiles in Newtownabbey.
Footage showed rioters retreating down Antrim Road in the area of Co Antrim north of Belfast as a line of riot police. vehicles approached them.
The rioters have set fire to wheelie bins. removed a garden fence to use as a shield against a police water cannon – with police vehicles driving over the fence.
Balaclava-clad rioters were also seen breaking open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested after a petrol bomb was thrown at two police officers during disorder in Carrickfergus on Tuesday night.
Police said one officer was taken to hospital for treatment while the other was treated at the scene.
The man was arrested on suspicion of riot at an address in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, on Wednesday.
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