Southport riot: How a LinkedIn post helped spark unrest - BBC tracks its spread

Local man's LinkedIn post was taken down within hours after the Southport stabbings sparked riots in England and Northern Ireland .

The BBC has previously established a clear pattern of social media influencers driving a message for people to gather for protests.

In the hours immediately after the attack, several posts from a mixture of sources - including self-styled news accounts - began sharing false claims.

A screenshot of Eddie Murray's original LinkedIn post was viewed more than three million times on X.

He told us he did not regret posting that the suspect's name was Al-Shakati .

By this point, waves of misinformation were already propelling the town towards a riot.

A key instigator was a group on the Telegram messaging app, set up six hours after the attack.

Government asked Ofcom to consider how illegal content, particularly disinformation, spread during unrest.

Ofcom concluded that there was a "clear connection" between violent disorder in England and Northern Ireland in the summer and posts on social media and messaging apps.

Many of the misleading posts are still on X and Facebook, and David Miles is still posting on Telegram .