Musk clashes with UK PM over Facebook arrest comments
Musk questions UK policing after Facebook comment arrest
Elon Musk has intensified his dispute with the UK, labelling the prime minister “two-tier Keir” and questioning whether the country resembles “Britain or the Soviet Union” following an apparent arrest over Facebook comments. The billionaire, who owns X, has been clashing with Sir Keir Starmer over ongoing riots in the UK, with concerns about online disinformation exacerbating the unrest.
Arrested for making comments on Facebook!
Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?
Is this accurate @CommunityNotes? https://t.co/ov7lKEUl2C
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
Musk reposted a video showing police officers seemingly arresting a man for offensive Facebook comments. “Arrested for making comments on Facebook! Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? Is this accurate @Community Notes,” he wrote on X, referencing X’s fact-checking resource.
The video features an officer informing the man that he is being arrested for improper use of the electronic communications network, which includes sending messages that are grossly offensive or indecent. This offence can lead to a maximum six-month jail term or a fine.
Later, Musk directed a post at Sir Keir, questioning why all communities in Britain are not protected. This was in response to a video showing large masked crowds outside a pub, some waving the Palestine flag. Musk made a similar comment towards the prime minister after Sir Keir declared zero tolerance for attacks on Muslim communities. Recently, mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers have been targets of unrest across the UK.
Musk also used the hashtag #twotierKeir, referring to “two-tier policing,” a claim often made by the far-right suggesting police treat different groups unequally. Sir Keir and Conservative contender Dame Priti Patel have refuted this claim, and Neil Basu, former head of counter-terrorism in Britain, called it “very dangerous rhetoric.”
The argument with Musk began when he suggested that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, statements that were quickly denounced by the government. Justice minister Heidi Alexander urged calm, stating that such language is totally unjustified.
The riots started in Southport last Tuesday after the fatal stabbings of three girls in Merseyside. They have since spread to various towns and cities across the UK. The conflict with Musk could jeopardise government efforts to compel social media companies to remove harmful content believed to be fueling the violence.
False information online claimed the person arrested for the Southport attacks was a Muslim refugee who arrived in the UK last year. However, Axel Rudakubana, the arrested and charged teenager, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and later moved to a village near Southport.
Sir Keir has stated that anyone inciting violence, whether online or offline, will face the full force of the law. Mr Basu described Musk’s comments as “pretty disgraceful” and asserted that the worst of the far-right violence should be treated as terrorism.
