U.S. entrepreneur and owner of social media website X, Elon Musk, challenged in various social media posts the British prime minister Keir Starmer, after the PM blamed social media companies for fuelling violence across the country.
Speaking at a press conference after riots erupted in the English city of Southport, Starmer said civil disorder was “clearly whipped up online.”
Riots across the UK were sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the northwest English town of Southport last week has been seized on by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups, with disinformation spread online and amplified by high-profile far-right figures.
Responding to a post on social media platform X that blamed mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, Musk wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
On Monday (August 5), Musk left a reply under a post on Keir Starmer’s X account and said “shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?”
In another post from Tuesday (August 6), Musk left a reply under a video said to show a man being arrested over comments left on a Facebook page. “Arrested for making comments on Facebook! Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?” – Musk said. Reuters did not verify the video in question.
Later on Tuesday (August 6), Musk posted “why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?” and tagged Starmer. The owner of X then posted the hashtag “TwoTierKeir,” referencing “two-tier policing”, a claim that purports police have different treatment for certain social groups.
In an interview with SkyNews, justice minister Heidi Alexander condemned Musk’s posts said she thought “the language around civil war being inevitable is totally unjustified.”
