Elon Musk v Sir Keir Starmer: What have they accused each other of in row over UK riots?
The prime minister warns that owners of social media companies have a responsibility to stop disinformation spreading as they are fuelling the violence on Britain’s streets.
Billionaire media baron Elon Musk is engaged in a war of words with Sir Keir Starmer over the role social media has played in riots around the UK.
The X owner began to retweet posts a few days after the Southport stabbings and after the prime minister fired a warning shot to social media companies “and those who run them” about allowing users to whip up violent disorder online.
Since Sunday, Sir Keir and Musk have clashed a number of times over the issue.
Here is a timeline of the row:
Thursday 1 August
Following riots that broke out after the Southport stabbings, the prime minister appeared to blame social media for the spreading of false claims that the suspect was a Syrian asylum seeker who arrived in the UK last year via a small boat.
He said: “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder was clearly whipped up online.
“That is also a crime. It is happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
Sunday 4 August
Over the subsequent days, Musk began to engage with posts on X about the riots and the suspect in the stabbings.
This included one suggesting the suspect in Southport appearing in a BBC advert as a child was similar to the person who tried to assassinate Donald Trump being in an advert for BlackRock.
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Then, on Sunday, the X owner responded to a video of riots to say “civil war is inevitable”.
And he responded to another post to say: “If incompatible cultures are brought together without assimilation, conflict is inevitable.”
Read more:
What is Starmer’s ‘standing army’ and will it work?
How the far right hijacked the Southport protests
Monday 5 August
Sir Keir’s spokesman responded to Musk’s comments, saying there is “no justification for comments like that” and “anyone who is whipping up violence online will face the full force of the law”.
Later, the prime minister posted on social media, saying “we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities”, among other statements.
Musk replied: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
He also responded to someone saying Christian churches and Jewish synagogues would not get support as “rather one-sided”.
Support for these places of worship would be provided if asked for.
Meanwhile, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle met representatives from social media companies, including 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”.
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Tuesday 6 August
Musk re-posted a video appearing to show police officers arresting a man for making offensive comments on Facebook.
“Arrested for making comments on Facebook!” Musk wrote on X.
“Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? Is this accurate @Community Notes.”
Community Notes is X’s own fact checking resource.
In the video, an officer is shown telling a man he is being arrested on suspicion of improper use of the electronic communications network.
This covers sending a message that is “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character” and can result in a maximum six-month jail term or a fine.
Musk then posted a video appearing to show large crowds of masked people gathered outside a pub, some waving the Palestinian flag.
“Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?”,” he repeated.
He called the prime minister #TwoTierKeir in reference to accusations that police are favouring some protesters over others.
Musk then posted a picture from US sitcom Family Guy, showing main character Peter Griffin in an electric chair.
“In 2030 for making a Facebook comment that the UK government didn’t like,” he wrote.
He later replied to his own post with: “The irony is that Facebook doesn’t even exist in 2030.”
