Enjoying beers in the afternoon sunshine on Epping High Street, the three local men were adamant about recent events in the town.
Not only had Essex police used their own vans to “bus in” antiracism counter-demonstrators last week to Epping, said one of the men, but masked undercover police officers had been among the “lefties”.
“They were masked up and looked like foot soldiers. Anyone who works in security will also pick up on how they were standing. If you looked you could see they held their hands together to give a discreet thumbs up sign,” said the man, reluctant like so many other local people to go on the record, but who gave his name as “Steve Davis”.
The only problem with this analysis was: it appeared to be entirely wrong.
Essex police has “categorically” denied it bussed in antiracism protesters. The suggestion of state-sponsored “false flag” provocateurs – a frequent trope advanced on niche corners of social media at times of tensions on the streets – was also dismissed.
The denials have often come too late to stop the conspiracies taking hold. They have been eagerly spread by the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, and also carried on the front page of the Daily Telegraph.
Disinformation has been one of the most alarming characteristics of the violent protests in Epping, whose focus has been the use of the Bell hotel to house asylum seekers.
Local people have continued to turn out for the protests, which were sparked after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault – but far-right activists have played a key role in promoting them online. Activists from groups including Homeland, Patriotic Alternative and the neo-Nazi White Vanguard movement have been present.
Online misinformation and disinformation originating on niche corners of X has been amplified – seemingly without attempt to corroborate whether it is true – by politicians such as Farage and commenters from the GB News channel.
Video clips of Stand Up to Racism protesters being taken out of Epping last Thursday in police vans, after they were surrounded by groups of men who threw projectiles at them and the police, were quickly repurposed on social media – and presented as if they were images of protesters being transported from Epping station.
In fact, as Essex police has confirmed, the Stand Up to Racism protesters had made their way on foot from the station earlier in the day, while police escorted them on foot to enable them to exercise a right to protest.
By Friday, however, rightwing commenters such as the ex-GB News presenter Dan Wootton were also misrepresenting the footage. “They actually escorted people in police vans,” Wootton told the viewers of the online show he set up after leaving GB News.
On Wednesday, Farage posted the same footage on X, saying: “This video proves [police] transported leftwing protesters to the Bell hotel in Epping” and calling for the resignation of the Essex police chief constable, Ben-Julian Harrington.
The force issued a statement saying this was categorically untrue, while Harrington made pointed comments in a press conference where he urged commenters to be responsible for what they said online, adding that it had “real-world consequences”.
Farage modulated his language after he was contacted on Wednesday, saying the police were “escorting and bussing masked thugs to and from the protest”, but his original tweet remains on X.
Later on Thursday, and in a tweet shortly after 10pm on Wednesday, Farage went on GB News to say he had received a call from a police officer who was in charge of the operation to say he was wrong. “If I was slightly out on accuracy I apologise but I think the gist of what I was saying was right,” he said.
By then, however, the misinformation had spread like wildfire and done “real damage”, according to Lewis Nielsen of Stand Up to Racism.
“It is a complete lie to say, as Farage has claimed, that Stand Up to Racism protesters were ‘bussed in’. We are mobilising antiracists, trade unionists, campaigners and faith groups against the far right in Epping,” he said.
Yet more conspiracies – some outlandish, others more minor but corrosive – continue to circulate. They include unsubstantiated accusations that asylum seekers staying at the hotel are routinely shoplifting in Epping.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post
See our guide at theguardian.com/tips for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each.
Other claims – accompanied by pictures of the Stand Up to Racism protest – include one that Epping police has been paying protesters £40 “for three hours” work. It was among conspiracy theories being disseminated in online spaces including the Epping Says No! Facebook group, which has more than 1,600 members. Its administrators include activists from the far-right Homeland party, Adam Clegg and Callum Barker.
The claims of undercover police officers being among the antiracism protesters have been accompanied by clips and pictures zeroing in on pictures of some of those protesters.
The claims were also denied by Essex police, which has been trying to combat what it calls “myths” in videos fronted by an assistant chief constable. The force specifically picked out the claim that there were “police decoys in the crowd encouraging violence”, rebutting it on its YouTube channel.
Nielsen also denied the claim: “It is categorically false that the police are involved in Stand Up to Racism protests, or play any role in organising them. If anything our protests – like others – have faced police repression in recent years.”
