UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confronted Elon Musk over controversial “civil war” comments as the nation grapples with escalating far-right violence. Here’s the full story.
Social Media’s Role
Following the wave of far-right violence which has engulfed various towns and cities across England, with mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers coming under sustained attack, the part played by social media companies in fanning the flames with misinformation has come under intense scrutiny.
Violent Unrest
The unrest erupted following the tragic killing of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport, which saw several others wounded and led to a proliferation of misinformation online regarding the asylum status, nationality, and religion of the accused attacker, Axel Rudakubana.
Musk’s Infamous Opinions
Amidst the ongoing unrest, Elon Musk, eccentric billionaire and owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, decided that as the UK was experiencing its worst racist violence in years, the time was right for him to wade into the discussion for one of his infamous and increasingly unhinged political opinions.
“Civil War Inevitable”
In response to a lengthy retweet chain which began with the former real estate agent Chaya Raichik’s account Libs of TikTok, a far-right, anti-LGBTQ+, conspiracy-peddling account which has become a stalwart defender of far-right views, Musk replied to a video of the violence tearing at the fabric of UK society, posting, “Civil war is inevitable.”
Free Speech Absolutism
Under Musk’s leadership, advertisers and users have fled X, as his “free speech absolutist” ideology and firing of almost all of the site’s content moderators have seen it become a cesspool of far-right, hateful, and conspiratorial views.
Accounts Restored
Similarly, many users previously banned for hate speech, such as Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins, who once compared asylum seekers fleeing to the UK to “cockroaches,” have had their accounts restored. Racist, homophobic, antisemitic and Islamophobic content, pornography and spam have flooded X, which has led to the company losing 71.5% of its value since Musk’s takeover.
Starmer Responds Sharply
Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded sharply to Musk’s comments, with his spokesperson stating, “There’s no justification for comments like that, and what we’ve seen in this country is organised illegal thuggery, which has no place on our streets or online.”
Community Resilience
They added, “We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain, and in response to it, we’ve seen some of the best of our communities coming out to clean up the mess and disruption. You can tell from that the prime minister doesn’t share those sentiments.”
Government Action Needed
In response to the conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric being amplified on sites like X, the UK government is calling on social media companies to take more robust measures against criminal content on their platforms.
Clear Requirements
Speaking to the BBC, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated, “There are areas where the social media companies do have clear requirements at the moment to remove criminal material and should be doing so, but sometimes take too long to do so.”
Musk Strikes Back
However, likely in response to the rare occasion of being called out by Starmer, Musk, whose legions of cult-like followers on X often shield him from much of the legitimate criticism he receives, took to X again to respond to the Prime Minister.
Musk’s Rebuttal
Starmer had posted a video in which he denounced the violence sweeping the country and stated that, under his leadership, the government would “not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.”
Musk’s Question
In the infantile style for which he has become infamous, Musk replied to Starmer’s video, asking, “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?”
Ignorance or Intent?
It was not immediately clear whether Musk was aware that it was primarily Muslims and asylum seekers who were being targeted or whether his reply was simply an attempt to enhance his standing with the right-wing agitators online with whom he has become so beloved.
Arrests and Prosecutions
Following a Cobra meeting Starmer chaired to discuss the response to the ongoing violence, Starmer stated, “If you’re inciting violence, it doesn’t matter whether it’s online or offline, and therefore I expect, just as in relation to those that are directly participating on the streets, for there to be arrests and charging and prosecution.”
Criminal Offences
In remarks likely to stir up more outrage from the online far-right agitators stoking the rioting with misinformation, the Prime Minister added, “Equally, anyone who has been found to have committed a criminal offence online can expect the same response.”
Social Cohesion Impact
While the UK government’s response to the far-right violence has been multifaceted, the riots, which have now been ongoing for more than a week, have brought into sharp relief the corrosive effect hateful online discourse can have on the social cohesion which binds a country together.
Musk’s Inflammatory Actions
While many have decried the actions of Elon Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest men, as inflammatory and irresponsible, his actions indicate what happens when a single individual is handed god-like power over the ability for online groups to communicate without moderation or fact-checking.
Future Legislation?
With Musk seemingly happy to throw fuel onto the fire of racist violence currently sweeping the country, it remains to be seen if the Labour government has either the will or the ability to effectively legislate against a man whose wealth and reach have made him, and his social media platform, until now, seemingly invulnerable to criticism or government regulation.
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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Martin Suker.