Duke of Sussex Speaks Against Online Misinformation

The Duke of Sussex has spoken out about online misinformation during a four-day visit to Colombia, following days of riots in the UK.

“What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets,” he said in Bogota, speaking at a summit on digital responsibility.

Saying that misinformation was spreading via social media and artificial intelligence, he said: “People are acting on information that isn’t true.

“We’re no longer arguing over facts, we’re debating and arguing over misinterpreted information,” he said in comments reported by the BBC and Reuters.

Misinformation

During their first day in Bogota the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited a school to meet teenagers at a session on online safety.

The Duke’s remarks did not specify a platform, but come after criticism of X and other social media firms amidst the UK riots.

Prime minister Kier Starmer singled out X owner Elon Musk for inflammatory comments during the violence, while a man was jailed for comments he posted on Facebook.

Ofcom has urged social media companies to take action against posts inciting violence, and the government said it may revisit the Online Safety Act, which is due to come into full force next year.

The media regulator urged platforms to address content that depicts “hatred and disorder” and promotes violence and misinformation.

Online Safety Act

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said tech firms “have an obligation now” to “deal with” material that incites violence.

Johnson said the government was considering revisiting the upcoming legislation.

“The events of the last few days have meant that we need to look very carefully at what more we can do,” she told the Today programme.

The government said that social media platforms “clearly need to do far more” after a list supposedly containing the names and addresses of immigration lawyers was spread online, apparently originating from Telegram.

Azzurra Moores of fact-checking organisation Full Fact said online misinformation was a “clear and present danger spilling across into unrest on UK streets in real-time” and urged Ofcom and the government to take “bolder, stronger action”.