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The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental tenet of democracy and thus of many western nations. However, when such protests turn violent, the freedoms enjoyed by citizens are often forfeited. Protests have ignited across western democracies over the last year. While many remain constructive and peaceful, there has been a noticeable increase in civil unrest with protests turning violent, forcing several western nations to reckon with how to address the increasingly prevalent problem.
The UK
A man stabbed three children to death in northern England in late July and the tragic incident spurred an intense wave of far-right riots across the country. The rioters, who claim that an immigrant stabbed the children, set fire to hotels hosting asylum seekers, damaged public buildings, and clashed with police. This conspiracy spread like wildfire almost immediately after the incident after xenophobic chatter began circulating online. Despite authorities’ assurance otherwise, these protestors remained steadfast in their belief that their anger was correctly placed.
In response to the riots, the government has mobilized about 6,000 specialist officers, arrested over a thousand people, and sentenced a handful to jail time. Newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that rioters will face “the full force of the law.”
The US
Over the last several years, there have been several violent protests which captured national attention, most notably the George Floyd protests of 2020 and the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021. Both of these incidents led many to question how to navigate the right to protest with keeping the peace.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7, 2023, protests and rallies have swept through the US, particularly on college campuses. While some of these rallies were indeed peaceful, others blurred the line between violence and outright hate speech. Jewish students overwhelmingly reported that they no longer felt safe on their college campuses, as pro-Palestinian rallies often featured antisemitic rhetoric.
News Nation reported that organizers of the the Democratic National Convention in Chicago are bracing themselves for an anticipated tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors. Indeed, the Hamas-Israel War, an international conflict, seems to have ignited the nation’s emotions, at least equally or more than local issues such as immigration and racial bias.
Europe
There is no shortage of protests all over Europe. Notably, European farmers have been protesting in Poland, France, Germany, and other countries since December 2023. While each country’s farmers have a specific list of grievances, commonalities include increasing energy prices and decreasing sales prices for agricultural products.
The Russia-Ukraine War has exacerbated these issues, as has the EU’s Green Deal, which proposes a large overhaul of current farming practices in favor of more eco-friendly ones. While European farmers aren’t necessarily against sustainable practices, they are against any policy that will make them lose money — and they are fighting it.
The Role of Social Media in Civil Unrest
Riots in the UK were organized on social media platforms like X and on WhatsApp and Telegram groups. The Guardian went so far as to report that Elon Musk could face criminal charges if he incited the UK riots.
As for the January 6 Capitol riots, Trump supporters riled each other up on social media sites like Gab and Parler, including sharing information that led rioters to storm the Capitol and directing them what to do when there.
A recent study by the European Fact-checking Standard Network (EFCSN) showed that far-right groups are exploiting the farmers’ protests to spread misinformation about sustainability on social media.
The role of social media in both encouraging and organizing protests cannot be underestimated, and it is why governments have been trying to get a handle on major social media companies for years.
Following the riots, the UK government is currently rethinking its Online Safety Act, which was passed in October 2023 but not fully implemented. The act calls for social media platforms to take down illegal content like child sexual abuse, hate speech, and terrorism posts. The proposed changes would prohibit “legal but harmful” content as well, for example, the type of content that fanned the flames of the current riots.
US governmental bodies have held numerous hearings with big tech leaders but have been unable to pass any “meaningful legislation” because of constitutional barricades. The EU has adopted a handful of social media regulations, but they’re aimed mainly at protecting users from big tech, not from false or inflammatory information.
While social media is, in fact, a tool that protestors and rioters use for both peaceful and violent gatherings, regulation has proved tough for Western governments because of the democratic values they possess. In difficult situations, even democratic countries may forego their core principles in an effort to protect citizens, stem violence, or even stop a pandemic. The responsibility of these governments is to strike a balance between democratic values and individual protection.