Dame Melanie Dawes stated, "Misinformation appeared online almost immediately after the attacks, some of it appearing to have malicious intent and seeking to influence public opinion and reaction." She emphasized the dangers posed by rapidly spreading false information.
Dame Melanie noted that "posts about the Southport incident and subsequent events from high-profile accounts reached millions of users, demonstrating the role that virality and algorithmic recommendations can play in driving divisive narratives in a crisis period." This highlights how influential social media can be.
In her letter, Dawes highlighted that "most online services took rapid action," yet some responses were "uneven." This suggests that while there was some initiative, it was not uniformly effective across all platforms.
Dame Melanie mentioned the upcoming Online Safety Act, stating, "The draft Codes would have provided a firm basis for urgent engagement with services on the steps they were taking to protect UK users from harm." This underscores the need for regulatory frameworks.
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