What companies can learn from how police dealt with the Southport riots on social media

A new report from the police watchdog into the riots across the country last summer has revealed how forces failed to properly deal with the communications challenges and risks to public safety caused by social media.

But this situation and the recommendations highlighted by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) don’t just apply to the police.

This is how these learnings can help your organisation improve your planning, strategy and team set-up to tackle the threats and risks from social media.

1. Social media is fragmented, complex and fast-paced

Campaigns, co-ordinated action or causing mischief online used to be easily traced back to a specific group or network. But that’s changed in recent years.

Just one post, even from a user with a small following, can be quickly amplified and spark outrage online – and stoked by people with no connection to the issue, but to cause discontent – and worse.

Paying for verification can boost your visibility in feeds, replies and search results. And misinformation is money – with a blue tick, the more outrageous you are, the more likely you are to generate revenue from people engaging with your posts.

Over the weekend, you may have seen on Twitter/X that you can even promote a tweet accusing your neighbour of running a paedophile ring.

Despite claims from politicians and sections of the media, the report from HMICFRS concluded that there was “no conclusive or compelling evidence that the 2024 disorder was deliberately premeditated and co-ordinated by any specific group or network”.

Their evidence suggested it was “disaffected individuals, influencers or groups, rather than criminal factions or extremists, [who] were predominantly responsible for inciting people to act violently and take part in disorder.”

In the case of Southport, the horrific murders of three young girls naturally triggered emotional responses online – but it also fuelled wider frustration and anger around migration and asylum, the cost of living, social deprivation, and a lack of trust and confidence in policing, politicians and authority in general. 

The huge amount of online content, shared at great speed because it resonated emotionally or rationally with a large number of people, “served as a call to arms for large groups of disillusioned people”, the report says, further influencing wider disorder. 

As one head of communications at a police force told the HMICFRS:

“A decade ago, the narratives which cut through were likely to be based on evidence, on professional journalistic integrity and on fundamental truth.

“Today, whoever can tell the best story first, powered by the most emotive and compelling content, wins the day. And there is no prize for second place.”

And this is made even harder with news aggregating accounts gaining great traction for their posts, accurate or not, without holding themselves to the same journalism standards of professional outlets.

One small piece of misinformation or anger online about your business can spark an outpouring of negative posts related to your company, the wider industry your work in – or even the way the country is governed.

So now is a good time to reflect: has your organisation really adapted to the pace of social and digital media?

 

What you need to think about:

• Do your comms strategies and plans, team structure and resources properly reflect these challenges and the ability to effectively monitor, manage and respond to online content?
• Has your crisis planning factored in the need to provide sufficient capacity and capability to deal with social and digital media emergencies? 
• Do your staff, not just in comms but the wider organisation, know how to spot, understand and manage the risks posed by online content?
• Is there an opportunity to organise potential collaboration and pooling of resources with your peers in the same industry to ensure consistency and effectiveness of messaging and approaches in a sector-wide crisis?

Disinformation expert Marcus Beard, who was a former colleague of mine in government, has shared more advice on LinkedIn about reviewing your approach to misinformation and disinformation.

2. Refocusing, restructuring and resourcing your teams to deal effectively with the modern media age

The warnings to the police about social media had been highlighted in the watchdog’s reports in both 2011 and 2021 after similar major widespread disorders – but not properly acted upon.

This meant forces lacked the capacity and capability to effectively monitor social and digital media, and assess when to be proactive or responsive or rebut online in big crises.

Digital and social media can no longer be seen as just the responsibility of your small digital communications team – it needs to be at the forefront of every part of the comms division, and also understood more widely in the company, including at CEO level.

Traditional comms channels can still play a role, especially community and in-person communications – but the way people communicate or get information in a crisis has changed in the last decade.

Many of us watched the London riots in 2011 unfold on rolling news channels; last year we got our information on the violence through social media and messaging apps (and liveblogs, to a lesser extent.)

Investment is needed not only in technology but training. As the watchdog report noted:

“Some forces had access to software for identifying illegal or harmful content, but not all have enough trained personnel [and] many that do have these products don’t use them regularly, which reduces their effectiveness” 

Major organisations have invested in misinformation and disinformation units; the government had the successful Rapid Response Unit (though it has since been disbanded) and the report praises Essex Police having a cross-discipline misinformation desk to better tackle issues online.

 

 What you need to think about:

• ‘Rather them than us’: can you use this report as part of a case to persuade senior leaders of a different approach to communications, to avoid your business becoming the next case study?
• Review your social media listening software: is it ‘fit for purpose’ and do more colleagues than just the digital team know how to use it properly?
• Does your comms team and key spokespeople have the necessary digital, social and presentational skills to produce a range of content to inform, respond or rebut?
• What policies and procedures do you have in place for flagging and dealing with potentially damaging, or illegal or harmful social posts?
• Do you know how to report such material or how to get it removed?

 

3. The art of rebutting

I’ve been in organisations where there has been a reluctance or hesitance to challenge content ranging from misunderstandings and complaints to false narratives and harmful, purposefully misleading posts.

This report recommends that “the police should also improve their online communications to fill any information void or to challenge false narratives or fake news. This is especially important when harmful or false content goes viral.”

Being able to monitor, quickly assess and decide a course of action is critical in this incredibly fast-paced world. 

As the HMICFRS put it: 

“The police service needs to better appreciate that fast-moving events require it to respond with an accurate counter-narrative, innovative in its approach and wide-reaching in terms of its audience.

“Policing can’t be passive when public safety is at risk”

Users will sometimes go to your channels to find the authoritative information, but they’re more likely to share or engage with the original misinformation or disinformation, so replying under that post may be more influential.

The speed and volume of negative or brand-damaging social and web posts can feel overwhelming in a crisis. The previously mentioned head of comms said forces need to be “relentless in their briefings to correct inaccurate or misleading content”.

And HMICFRS asserted:

“The police service must communicate the facts. Repeatedly, continuously and effectively as circumstances change and develop.

“If not, others will take over the narrative with overwhelming amounts of online content. And some of this may be false or harmful to the police response and the communities the police are there to protect”

What you need to think about:

• How can you help to develop an organisational culture that understands the importance of respond quickly and accurately to comms issues, particularly on social media, in minutes, rather than hours?
• Do you have a clear guide on when to respond and how – and whether the rebuttal is better coming from your organisation or a trusted third party?
• Do you have an agreed strategy on sharing information updates on social media and through other comms channels to fill voids that can be filled by malicious actors?

 

The need to prioritise and invest in dealing with the risk from online

It may be dismissed as ‘just an angry tweet’ – but that can turn into a viral post, a newspaper splash, top story on the TV news or a website.

The call from the police watchdog for “greater powers” for Ofcom, or calling on social platforms “to take down misleading posts more quickly”, as Marcus says, won’t tackle the fundamental issues of how mis and disinformation spreads – especially with tech giants preferring to prioritise ‘freedom of expression’, or just ignoring requests and rulings.

By regularly reviewing plans, reallocating resourcing and investing in technology and training, your company can be better placed to tackle any major online crises. But it is a constantly evolving environment, not a one-off job.

You can read the report on the HMICFRS’ website.

If you have any questions about this article, or would like to get in touch to see how I can help you with these issues, get in touch.