LONDON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom's (UK) communications regulator Office of Communication (Ofcom) on Wednesday warned online service providers to act against illegal content that could stir up hatred or provoke violence, following civil unrest in Belfast after a knife attack.
In an open letter, Ofcom said some of the unrest appeared to have been incited online and involved racially motivated violence, arson attacks on homes and vehicles, and attacks against police.
Ofcom said it was closely monitoring the situation in Northern Ireland, including the role of content hosted on regulated services, and was contacting individual providers where it believed there were specific risks related to illegal content.
The warning came after unrest erupted across parts of Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland on Tuesday night. Hundreds of protesters, many of them masked, attacked police, set fire to vehicles and torched homes after a video of the knife attack circulated widely online.
A bus in east Belfast and several cars were set ablaze. Local media footage showed police helping a family escape from a burning house.
The knife attack took place late on Monday in Belfast. A man remains in a serious condition in hospital. A 30-year-old Sudanese national appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody after being charged with attempted murder and other offenses. ■