Police use of X (Twitter) during the 2024 UK riots

During the summer of 2024, significant disorder and protesting broke out across the United Kingdom. Throughout this period, police forces utilised the social media platform X to communicate with users. The study focuses on the potential for police services to engage in dialogical policing with online users during a period of national civil disorder. The X posts from seven police force accounts during the 2024 disorder were analysed. The findings demonstrate that the police used four key tactics: (i) indicating awareness of misinformation online, (ii) condemnation of those involved and warnings of consequences, (iii) sharing of police information, and (iv) demonstration of community cohesion. Whilst there was some evidence of dialogue policing being used by police forces, many of the posts were one-way, with this approach prioritised over two-way communication. The findings have significant implications for all police agencies regarding how they communicate online with citizens during widespread civil unrest.