Coverage of the attack has highlighted mixed factuality from global media sources and has a bias distribution rating of 43% centre and 42% right.
The coverage started to lean further right following the news the attacker is a Romanian national – but the violence doesn’t lead the UK front pages.
A white man stabbed a young girl in London. So why no reaction from the far right?
Violence against women and girls is on the rise again in the UK. The far-right and their media like to blame ethnic minorities and Muslims. But when the violence is at the hands of white men – even if they are immigrants – there is very little outrage. Is it simply racism? They might look for racial or religious differences, but for women, another attack on a young girl at the hands of a man points to one thing: Women and girls are not safe.
‘Recent male violence against women’
Only a few days before an 11-year-old Australian tourist was randomly stabbed by a white man, there had been violent far-right hate riots over misinformation around a black British man who stabbed three young girls to death.
The horrific murder of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9 – all three at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, led to widespread misinformation about the attacker.
Online, the misinformation spread like wildfire. It led to beliefs that the attacker Axel Rudakubana, 17, was an illegal immigrant who carried out the attack based on religious grounds. It was claimed he was a Muslim.
The misinformation led to shameful scenes of violence with Muslim communities and ethnic minorities being targeted. Police officers were attacked, buildings and cars were set on fire and shops were looted.
The suspect was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved to the Southport area in 2013. Despite claims he is a Muslim, he has no known religion and his motive has not been confirmed. Locals described his family as Christians and ‘ordinary people trying to make a go of things.’
So fast forward to Monday and a ‘white, skinny young man’ randomly attacked two tourists – a mum and her 11-year-old daughter in Leicester Square. He put the child in a headlock and stabbed her 8 times.
‘Not much outrage from the right’
After years of stirring up anti-immigration hate in right-wing tabloid media, they were eerily quiet over this latest attack from a man on women and girls.
Online, you won’t see much backlash either. Once it was established the attacker was a Romanian national, a few attempted the ‘us’ vs ‘them’ narrative but there’s nowhere near the level of anger or hatred we’ve been seeing in recent days.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, a Romanian national with no fixed address, has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Perhaps the far-right and its media are simply exhausted. After years of whipping up hatred and spreading misinformation, they got a week of rioting across the UK. Then tens of thousands took to the streets in anti-hate marches and the far-right movement just kind of stopped.
Perhaps because the attacker was white they just don’t have the same level of hatred. Or could it be because the man who intervened in the latest attack was a 29-year-old Muslim? Abdullah “jumped on” and took the knife off the attacker.
But don’t be fooled. The Daily Mail still managed to lead with a picture of Abdullah right next to a headline that made it appear he was the knifeman.
Whilst men keep attempting to find differences in these violent incidents, they continue to overlook the fact that the number of women and girls who keep being violently attacked and sometimes killed at the hands of men continues to rise. Male violence against women must be addressed – they must find an answer to deal with it.
- The left highlights the heroism of the security guard, detailing multiple interventions and emphasizing the immediate response to past far-right riots.
- The right provides broader concision about recent violent UK incidents and anti-immigrant sentiments, suggesting a politically charged atmosphere influencing public reactions to the stabbing.
- An 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman were stabbed in Leicester Square, London, but police believe no suspects are outstanding.
- Westminster Police reported the girl’s injuries require hospital treatment, but they are not life-threatening, while the second victim sustained minor injuries.
- Abdullah, a guard at a nearby tea shop, intervened during the attack, helping to subdue the assailant until the police arrived.