On Tuesday evening, more than 1,000 people in Southport joined a peaceful vigil to honour the victims of Monday's horrific knife attack.

A few hours later, hundreds of rioters took to the streets. They set cars on fire, attacked a shop and threw bricks and burning matter at a mosque. The police called it "a sustained and vicious attack" and 53 officers were injured.

The next evening a second riot broke out outside Downing Street10 Downing Street, in central London, has been the official home of the UK prime minister since 1735. , with protestors lighting flares and throwing bottles. The police arrested 111 people. It was followed by further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.

The rioters are believed to be supporters of far-rightA range of ideologies that emphasise social order, racial purity and the elimination of opponents., IslamophobicDisliking Islam and Muslims. organisations.¹ They had been fuelled by internet rumours that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

This has no basis in fact. Initially the police revealed that their suspect was a 17-year old boy born in Cardiff, then that his parents came from Rwanda: a largely Christian country. But this did not stop the thugs. He has since been named as Axel Rudakubana.

Humans have an unfortunate propensity to be whipped up into mobs, no matter how advanced the society. In the 17th Century, the people of Salem, Massachusetts, were swept up in a mass witch-hunting hysteria.² During the McCarthyismA series of vindictive investigations, led by US Senator Joseph McCarthy against suspected communist sympathisers, including high-profile celebrities like Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles. Many victims were blacklisted from working or even imprisoned. of the mid-1950s, conservative Americans fell into a frenzy trying to root out communists.

The modern world is no exception. Social media has widened the audience for conspiracies. It has allowed a wave of disinformationFalse information intended to mislead, including propaganda, which all too often encourages the spread of misinformation, fake news spread by mistake. It is contrasted with misinformation, which may be spread accidentally. to be spread to millions of people.

This week fake news fanned brutality. Soon after Monday's attacks, social media platform X was flooded with inflammatory speculation. A post by an account called Europe Invasion claiming the suspect was "alleged to be a Muslim immigrant" was viewed 6.7 million times.

Right-wing activists and influencers helped spread these false claims and X was soon flooded with tens of thousands of voices calling for a war on Islam. Far-right Telegram channels amplified them further.

Former UK security minister Stephen McPartland suggested hostile countries may have planted the lies. He said: "Disinformation to undermine democracy is a huge part of the Russian playbook."³ Lies were also spread on Chinese-owned TikTok.

Social media can spread evil. But it can also do good. It can allow people to organise resistance against cruel regimes, as it did in the Arab SpringA series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships.. It can spread news of crises and allow people to send help to the victims.

And gossip long predates social media. Rumours have provoked pogromsOrganised massacres of a particular ethnic groups, such as those of Jewish people in Russia and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.⁴ and witch hunts. Historian Bettany Hughes writes: "Rumour, gossip, slander - single drops of poison can pollute an entire system."

Rumours can be more powerful than the truth. A journalist blamed the 1871 Great Chicago Fire on an Irishwoman called Catherine O'Leary. She was attacked in songs and cartoons. The original writer admitted he made up the story, but people still believed it. O'Leary's life was ruined.

Is social media evil?

Yes: Social media allows cruel lies to be magnified, buries the truth in a dung hill of disinformation and allows evil empires to deceive huge sections of the population. It is a blight on our society.

No: It is just the medium through which evil is spread. The real problems are prejudice, ignorance and the power of rumour. These have existed long before social media and will remain long after.

Or... Social media can spread great evils, and under Elon Musk's ownership X has become a cesspit of lies. But, if well regulated and filtered, it could prove an equally powerful tool for good.

FOR YOUR SUMMER READING CHALLENGE CLUE GO TO STEP SIX IN THE SIX STEPS TO DISCOVERY BELOW.

Downing Street - 10 Downing Street, in central London, has been the official home of the UK prime minister since 1735.

Far-right - A range of ideologies that emphasise social order, racial purity and the elimination of opponents.

Islamophobic - Disliking Islam and Muslims.

McCarthyism - A series of vindictive investigations, led by US Senator Joseph McCarthy against suspected communist sympathisers, including high-profile celebrities like Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles. Many victims were blacklisted from working or even imprisoned.

Disinformation - False information intended to mislead, including propaganda, which all too often encourages the spread of misinformation, fake news spread by mistake. It is contrasted with misinformation, which may be spread accidentally.

Arab Spring - A series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships.

Pogroms - Organised massacres of a particular ethnic groups, such as those of Jewish people in Russia and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.