Britain's far right forces have incited followers to deliberately spread the coronavirus to Jews and Muslims

The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi intern Wu Sifan

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, britain's far-right forces, including neo-Nazis, have been inciting followers to "deliberately infect" Jews and Muslims with covid-19. In response, the British counter-terrorism agency said that extremists are trying to use the new crown virus to incite social hatred and spread conspiracy theories.

According to the US cable television network (CNN) reported on the 9th, the British Anti-Extremism Committee said on the same day that various extremist groups used the new crown epidemic to incite inter-racial divisions and made xenophobic and racist remarks, such as deliberately passing the new coronavirus to Jews and Muslims.

In a report, the UK Anti-Extremism Council noted that the outbreak could be a breeding ground for extremism, and extremist groups will use the social and economic impact of the epidemic for a long time to exacerbate the instability of British society.

Sara Khan, chief commissioner of the UK's Anti-Extremism Council, argues that the outbreak has not stopped extremists from continuing to spread their ideology of hatred, taking full advantage of the lockdown to promote dangerous conspiracy theories online and spread disinformation, while people will be more vulnerable to extremist rhetoric during the lockdown.

In response, the UK Anti-Extremism Committee stressed that they have been informed of reports of false news and harmful propaganda on the Internet, such as statements claiming that Islamist groups are "spreading anti-democratic and anti-Western rhetoric", claiming that the spread of COVID-19 is due to the natural condemnation of Western countries due to so-called "depravity", and another fake news post about Muslims violating the blockade has been shared 2700 times.

It is worth mentioning that even after being flagged as false, about 90% of posts containing false information are not processed by social media platforms.

For now, the committee is calling on the UK government to develop a "clear plan" that includes how to deal with extremism during the pandemic and in the future, while at the same time they are calling on the UK government to release a new anti-extremism strategy that should include details on how to address extremism at home.

Editor-in-charge: Hu Zhenqing

Proofreader: Yan Zhang

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