An analysis of social media activity during June's racial disorder in Belfast has found that more than half of the X accounts posting about the violence were based outside the United Kingdom.

Of 8,672 X accounts that received over 1,000 views for their posts on the Belfast and Southampton unrest, only 45.3 per cent showed a UK location via the platform's own location function. Around 16.8 per cent were based in the United States, 4.5 per cent in the Republic of Ireland, and approximately one quarter from other European countries.

Seven of the twelve most-read tweets on the two incidents came from US-based accounts, including one from X owner Elon Musk and two from other commentators described as alt-right. A further top tweet was linked to North America.

The data, covering 43,000 posts collected between 8 and 9 June for the Belfast disorder, showed that nearly a third contained racist or anti-immigration comments. Almost one in ten posts about the Belfast unrest included calls for violence, paramilitary action, or vigilantism.

The violence in Belfast followed an assault in which Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye. An asylum seeker from Sudan was charged with attempted murder. At least 23 people were arrested during three nights of racially motivated rioting that targeted non-white individuals.

The account @EndWokeness, which has 3.9 million followers, posted a blurry image from the attack, stating the full video was too graphic to share. The post received 16.3 million views.

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, stated that X was being used by hostile foreign actors to exploit local crises, amplify racist narratives, and provoke violence in communities with which they have no connection.