“Get them out, keep them out”: How social media fuelled violent attacks against migrants in Northern Ireland

In June 2025, Northern Ireland experienced eight nights of violent unrest, centered in Ballymena, targeting Roma and Romanian migrants following an alleged sexual assault. Social media platforms, particularly Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, were used to spread hate speech, doxx the locations of families seeking shelter, and livestream violence for profit. The report argues that platforms failed to mitigate these risks in real-time, potentially violating the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA), and calls for a coordinated government response to bridge online and offline risk monitoring.

• Violent unrest in Northern Ireland in June 2025, primarily centered in Ballymena, was triggered by the charging of two Romanian teenagers for an alleged sexual assault. A coalition of Northern Irish Loyalists, anti-migrant nationalists from the Republic of Ireland, and international far-right actors used social media to incite hatred and violence specifically against Roma and Romanian communities.
• Facebook was used extensively for the coordination of violence and doxxing. The 'Ballymena Reaction Group' page encouraged attacks on Roma homes, provided instructions on how to identify them, and shared the addresses of individuals. This online activity directly preceded physical attacks, including the burning of the Larne Leisure Centre after the location of displaced families was shared online.
• TikTok and YouTube were used to broadcast the riots via livestreams, which reached hundreds of thousands of views. Some users monetized this violence through TikTok's 'Gifts' feature, while YouTube broadcasts by former members of the Ulster Volunteer Force promoted hate against migrants and Muslims.
• The report asserts that social media platforms failed to meet their legal obligations under the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA), specifically sections 9, 10, 26, and 27, which require platforms to assess, mitigate, and swiftly remove illegal content that incites violence. The author notes that content was often removed only days after the violence had already occurred.

APA

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2025). “Get them out, keep them out”: How social media fuelled violent attacks against migrants in Northern Ireland. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/get-them-out-keep-them-out-how-social-media-fuelled-violent-attacks-against-migrants-in-northern-ireland/

Chicago

Institute for Strategic Dialogue. “Get them out, keep them out”: How social media fuelled violent attacks against migrants in Northern Ireland. 2025. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/get-them-out-keep-them-out-how-social-media-fuelled-violent-attacks-against-migrants-in-northern-ireland/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |title=“Get them out, keep them out”: How social media fuelled violent attacks against migrants in Northern Ireland |date=20 June 2025 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/get-them-out-keep-them-out-how-social-media-fuelled-violent-attacks-against-migrants-in-northern-ireland/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforstrategicdialogue2025get, author = {{Institute for Strategic Dialogue}}, title = {{“Get them out, keep them out”: How social media fuelled violent attacks against migrants in Northern Ireland}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/get-them-out-keep-them-out-how-social-media-fuelled-violent-attacks-against-migrants-in-northern-ireland/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }