Far-right riots: UK government slams Elon Musk for predicting 'civil war' in Britain
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has become embroiled in a spat with the British government after making inflammatory statements about the ongoing far-right riots in the UK.
The dispute arose after X, the platform formerly known as Twitter and owned by Musk, was widely blamed for facilitating a surge of misinformation that led to a spate of racially fuelled attacks across the country over the past week.
Downing Street criticised Musk for claiming on X on Sunday that “civil war is inevitable” in Britain in response to a post by commentator Ashley St Clair describing the riots as the “effects of mass migration and open borders”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson commented on Musk's post on Monday, saying there is “no justification for comments like that".
The billionaire then hit back hours later, replying to a video Starmer posted on X condemning attacks on mosques and Muslims.
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“Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?” Musk asked the prime minister in a post that received 168,000 likes and was seen by 8.7 million people by the time of publication.
Far-right mobs have specifically targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers in recent days.
Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on X, also replied to a post depicting an offensive caricature of a Pakistani man with a knife.
Civil war is inevitable
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2024
The cartoon suggested that British police protect Muslims who say “kill the infidels” but imprison white men who say “I don’t want my children to get stabbed”.
“Does seem one-sided,” Musk responded.
The cartoon appears to reference the idea of “two-tier policing”, a claim often used by the far right to suggest that the police treat white people more harshly than ethnic minorities.
'Armchair thuggery'
The UK government’s technology secretary, Peter Kyle, met with representatives from X and other social media platforms, including TikTok and Meta, to “make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement".
Justice minister Heidi Alexander on Tuesday criticised Musk, calling his civil war comments “deplorable” and saying that Musk “has a responsibility given the huge platform he has”.
She also issued a warning to people inciting violence online: “Just because you’re sat behind a computer screen or your mobile phone, that will not protect you from the law.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, meanwhile, has promised the government will not tolerate “armchair thuggery”.
Chaos has raged across Britain in recent days, with several countries - including Malaysia, the UAE and Indonesia - issuing travel warnings to their citizens.
This follows racist and Islamophobic attacks by mobs in some English and Northern Irish cities and towns, including Liverpool, Manchester, Sunderland, Belfast and Hull.
In Hull, an Asian man was attacked by a group of white men on Saturday, while in Bristol and Manchester, Black men walking alone were attacked by groups of masked white men.
Groups of Muslims have gathered to defend mosques and other places of worship from the far-right rioters.
On Monday, hundreds of Muslims gathered near a mosque in Birmingham following false rumours online of a far-right gathering there.
Some of those Muslims, who broke off from the main crowd, were filmed attacking a nearby pub named the Clumsy Swan. Later that evening, other Muslims visited the pub to apologise to the staff.
“I love you all, every one of you,” a man who was in the pub during the attack said to the Muslims after telling them they didn’t need to apologise for the actions of others.
Elsewhere, police fear more disorder, with far-right organisers reportedly planning to launch attacks on scores of immigration centres and legal firms on Wednesday night.
The spate of Islamophobic and racist riots began early last week, initially triggered by online misinformation following a stabbing attack that killed three children in Southport on Monday.
False claims spread rapidly, including on Musk-owned X, that the attacker was a Muslim "illegal immigrant".
High-profile X users, including fugitive far-right activist Tommy Robinson, former GB News presenter Laurence Fox and influencer Andrew Tate, were involved in spreading fake news to millions of people.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, the recently elected MP for Clacton and leader of Reform UK, posted a video on Tuesday suggesting the “truth is being withheld” from the public about the killings.
Farage, who was later dubbed “Tommy Robinson in a suit” by the husband of an MP killed by a far-right attacker in 2016, has since defended his remarks and doubled down on them.
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