RNLI video receives 'pure hatred' after anti-migrant protests

A woman who shared an RNLI video on social media says she has received "pure hatred" following anti-migrant protests in England.

Councillor Elizabeth Evans, who represents Aberaeron and Aberarth in Ceredigion, shared a video on Facebook which showed New Quay's RNLI lifeboat leaving the station on a training day.

According to Evans, the post - which attracted 30,000 views - drew comments of hatred, some of which she described as "really, really bad".

It comes after RNLI volunteers in Portsmouth were targeted by protesters following the charity's role in helping to bring migrants on a small boat to shore earlier this month.

The RNLI said it existed "to save lives at sea".

Evans said she was "really shocked" by the reaction to the video.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

"And it wasn't a few. It took me a good half hour to get rid of those comments, just one after the other. With that thread of hatred."

Describing the comments, Evans continued: "The comment thread was 'traitors', 'taxis for migrants', they were some of the politest ones."

She said one of the comments was suggestive of violence, adding: "I don't want to go on because I don't want to give those comments oxygen but they were really, really bad."

Evans said she deleted the comments but was subsequently criticised for "shutting down discussion".

"I wasn't shutting down discussion because there was no discussion available to be had," she said. "I was shutting down hatred."

Peter Sparkes, chief executive of the RNLI, said recent events had "generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI".

"Our mission, and our tasking is to rescue those women, children and men in danger of drowning.

"Anyone rescued from a small boat by the RNLI is immediately handed over to the UK's immigration authorities.

"Illegal immigration is a political issue; the RNLI exists to save lives at sea."

A total of 16,513 people arrived in the UK in small boats in the year to 1 September, 43% lower than the same period the previous year.

UK net migration has meanwhile dropped to its lowest level outside of the Covid pandemic since 2012.

Evans said social media platforms should do more to crackdown on online abuse and urged the UK government to help.

"They need to enforce through legislation that these companies have an absolute responsibility to make sure that they keep their users safe but also, that it's not used as a platform for hatred… We must not allow it to be normalised," said Evans.

The UK government said those who dedicated themselves to the service of others should be able to do their work without fear of harassment or abuse online, adding that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy expected social media companies to be more proactive and rigorous in removing harmful content.

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns several social media platforms including Facebook, said "no one should be subjected to abuse of any kind" adding that it removes harmful content when it finds it.