Gardaí have found foreign actors using social media to 'amplify' far-right content in Ireland
GARDA AND PSNI investigations into far-right incitement at protests and riots have shown agitators from outside Ireland involved in amplifying and directing demonstrations across the island.
Garda Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon has confirmed that gardaí had evidence for actors outside of Ireland stoking up the disinformation rhetoric to push for far-right protests to take place, while Murray said they had evidence of people in the UK publishing inciting social media posts.
Coxon and Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray of the PSNI were speaking this week at a conference on policing of far-right intimidation in the Republic of Ireland.
The event in Dublin was organised by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL) and was examining experiences in Ireland, the North and globally.
Both police officers said that amplification of misinformation and disinformation by people aligned to far-right ideologies was a difficult task to confront for police forces across Ireland.
Coxon said: 'Everyone knows it is coming from both: often the amplification process is from outside of the State; but it is not that there are not actors within the State doing the same.
'You are talking about huge numbers – there are key examples where you can see that happening inside the State.'
Murray explained how anonymous posts are published on channels and on social media messaging services, and that these then spread across WhatsApp groups designed to stoke anger among susceptible people.
Murray said that the message was only part of the issue, trying to deal with the 'amplification' was a real challenge.
'You get an anonymous post and then you get people amplifying it, engaging with it and then just spreading on WhatsApp. Then it becomes the norm.
'It is a deliberate ploy on our streets on both sides of the border, and it is really challenging to deal with,' he said.
Misinformation notices
Murray cited the Garda's recent use of misinformation notices, a new measure by the force that highlights when misinformation is circulating on social media.
The most recent notice came when voice notes spread on WhatsApp and social media
regarding the death of Garda Kevin Flatley
.
The Garda notices call out the misinformation and present an accurate narrative. The response is shared across Garda's social media accounts and also sent to newsrooms in press releases.
Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon.
Rollingnews.ie
Rollingnews.ie
Coxon explained that this is a new strategy and that other police forces are looking to use the Garda model. She used the example of the misinformation during the
Dublin riots that the army
had been called in as not being true.
The Deputy Commissioner said that gardaí monitor the far-right to 'a certain degree'.
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'Nobody can be everywhere all the time. You know this yourself, but certainly our obligation is to be proportionate in our response, to deal with the information that we have in front of us, and to not move forward on conjecture.
'And we want our response, of course, to be appropriate, engaging, supportive. We want to be professional, flexible in how we deal with things and impartial,' she said.
The Deputy Commissioner said that there were fewer than 650 protests last year, which were for the most part anti-migrant and far-right protests, but which also included demonstrations against the war in Gaza.
Coxon has said the use of misinformation around migrants during anti-migrant protests, particularly false allegations about how migrants and asylum seekers treat women and children, has become a 'complicating factor' for gardaí.
She said the organisation of far-right protests and counter-demonstrations at the same time are proving a challenge for gardaí.
'The proliferation of social media and the abilities for individuals to move easily across the country – and I would argue, also from outside of Ireland – we've absolutely had that. And that's really changed the nature of the protest landscape.
'It means that protests quickly gain momentum. They can change location quickly, and our ability to mobilise and to respond has had to change,' she added.
Coxon said that gardaí are monitoring 'violent political extremism' and said that the threat level is currently set at 'substantial'.
'You see how these things spread, and certainly the spreading of misinformation has directly led to the verbal and physical assault of Gardai in various situations,' she added.
'Inoculate'
Joe O'Brien – the former Green Party junior minister and now Executive Director of the ICCL – said his group were holding the conference to help gardaí.
O'Brien said that he suffered far-right intimidation himself when he was in political life – and that this informed his understanding of how the activists 'can pull in communities'.
He said there is a need to 'inoculate' communities from far right rhetoric but said he did not support Government moves to ban face masks and protests outside politicians' homes.
'I understand perhaps why that might have been put in as something to do, but that's crossing a line in terms of freedom to protest, I think. And we would not be for it.
'It's a sort of a fundamental freedom; intimidation is a different thing, and that's a different line, I suppose, is my point,' he said.
He said a key way to achieve that inoculation is by giving communities 'the right information'.
'The right information wasn't always coming to people as well, you know. So I think that's key as well.
'And building those links, I suppose, at community work level, but the connections with the community guard as well,' he added.
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