LONDON — Elon Musk, under scrutiny for the role his social media platform has played in fueling a week of riots in Britain, has adopted a combative stance.
In a parade of posts on his platform, X, Musk has shared footage from the riots, declared that “civil war is inevitable,” gone after new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and criticized the British government for caring more about policing speech than protecting communities.
Heidi Alexander, the courts minister, responded Tuesday that Musk’s remarks were “totally unjustifiable.”
“I think at the moment everybody should be calling for calm,” she told the BBC. “He does have a responsibility, given this huge platform that he has, and so to be honest I think his comments are pretty deplorable.”
The riots began after a stabbing attack killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England. Based on false information amplified by far-right figures online, many of the people who took to the streets believed that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant who had come to Britain illegally.
In fact, the suspect, identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was born in Cardiff, Wales. His religion is unknown. His parents are reportedly from Rwanda, where the vast majority of people are Christian.
And yet the anti-immigrant demonstrations have continued, spreading to at least 15 British cities and amounting to the most extensive disorder in Britain since 2011. Rioters have targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. But much of the violence has been directed at police.
Starmer put social media companies on notice last week, saying at a news conference that “violent disorder clearly whipped up online” was a crime “happening on your premises.”
Musk, in particular, has faced criticism for allowing disinformation to proliferate on his platform and approving the return of previously banned figures such as far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Peter Kyle, Britain’s technology secretary, said Monday he had met with representatives from TikTok, Meta, Google and X “to make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement.”
A request for comment from The Washington Post got only an automated reply from X. In his public comments, though, Musk has made it clear that he thinks it’s the government that has work to do.
On Tuesday, he called Starmer “two-tier Keir” — echoing an allegation that British police overreach when dealing with far-right, predominantly White demonstrators while going soft on immigrant and Muslim lawbreakers.
Musk shared a video of a person purportedly being arrested for offensive comments online and asked: “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?”
Musk also engaged with a Monday post from Starmer that stated “we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.” Musk responded: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
Yvette Cooper, Britain’s home secretary, said that social media platforms have acted as a “rocket booster” under some of the disinformation. She told the BBC that the government would be taking up the issue with tech giants “who need to take some responsibility for this” and that the police would also be pursuing “online criminality.”
But for now, authorities are somewhat reliant on social media companies following their own guidelines. Britain’s Online Safety Act, requiring platforms to take action against illegal content, doesn’t come into full effect until early next year, according to the government’s explainer on the act.
The European Union’s equivalent legislation, the Digital Services Act, is already in force, but Britain is no longer part of the E.U.