Right-wing extremist riots: London criticises Elon Musk’s statements on riots

Comments by Elon Musk on the right-wing and anti-Muslim riots in Great Britain have caused outrage. British government members criticized a post by the multi-billionaire on his online platform X. There, in response to an anti-immigration comment and a video of the riots, Musk wrote: “A civil war is inevitable.” Musk later went one step further and mocked statements and actions by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Using terms like “civil war” is unacceptable and completely irresponsible, Justice Secretary Heidi Alexander told Times Radio. “We see police officers being seriously injured and buildings being set on fire.” Operators of online platforms must exercise their power responsibly. Starmer’s spokesman had previously stressed that there was no justification for such comments.

Musk had demonstrated a good relationship with Starmer’s conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak. In November 2023, the two discussed the risks of the technology at an international security conference on artificial intelligence.

The new social democratic government made it clear at a meeting between Technology Minister Peter Kyle and representatives from Tiktok, Facebook parent company Meta, Google and X that the companies had a responsibility to stop the spread of misinformation and hate speech. “There is an enormous amount of content in circulation that the platforms have to deal with quickly,” said Kyle.

But the X boss went even further. Under a video clip of Starmer, in which the head of government announced, among other things, that he would not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities, Musk wrote: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?” The tech billionaire later criticized the fact that a man was arrested for offensive comments on Facebook: “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?”

Finally, Musk took up a right-wing conspiracy theory and derided Starmer as “two-tier Keir”. The claim of “two-tier policing” that has been spread online insinuates that the police are taking tougher action against ultra-nationalists than against foreign criminals.

According to experts and media, posts on social media are fueling the unrest that has been going on for days. False news is circulating there that the attacker who stabbed three girls to death in the town of Southport on July 29 was a Muslim migrant. In fact, a 17-year-old who was born in Britain to Rwandan parents is in custody. Eight children were also injured in the attack. They have all since been released from hospital.

The rumor was also spread by high-profile accounts and conspiracy theory followers such as British-American influencer Andrew Tate. Musk is also accused of lifting the bans on X for well-known right-wing radicals such as the founder of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known under the name Tommy Robinson.

Serious riots in Plymouth and Belfast

For days, mostly right-wing extremist rioters have been attacking the police in several cities. Several officers have been injured and more than 400 people have been arrested so far. Around 100 people have already been charged, the head of the CPS, Stephen Parkinson, told the BBC.

Most recently, there were serious riots in the southern English port city of Plymouth and in Belfast. Police in the Northern Irish capital used rubber bullets for the first time in years when they were attacked by rioters with incendiary devices and bricks. A man aged between 50 and 60 was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The police assume that he was the victim of a hate crime.