The Observer reports:

The resurgence of far-right violence in the UK is in part due to Elon Musk’s decision to allow figures such as Tommy Robinson back on to the social media platform X, researchers say.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and those of his ilk are not leaders in the traditional sense and the far right has no central organisation capable of directing the disorder and violence that has been seen, experts say.

Jacob Davey, director of policy and research at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), said: “People have been naming the EDL [English Defence League] as key figures when the EDL actually has ceased to function as a movement.”

The UK, like other parts of the world, now has “a much more decentralised extreme-right movement,” he said.

“There have been known figureheads at protests – including some avowed neo-Nazis – but there’s also this loose network that includes ­concerned local citizens and football hooligans.

“All of these people are tied together by these loose online networks, ­activated by deeply cynical influences – many outside the country – and galvanised by viral online disinformation from unknown and untrustworthy sources.”

Instead, Robinson, who is believed to have left the country earlier last week before a legal case, and other figures act as “weathermakers”, according to Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, the anti-fascism organisation. [Continue reading…]