Elon Musk. Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Musk’s comments on the UK riots were met with criticism from members of the country’s government, while Ofcom is asking online services about how they are preventing platforms from being used to stir up hatred.
Elon Musk is facing backlash from UK officials related to how he handles the platform X, as concerns around social media spreading harmful content grows.
The UK has faced multiple protests and riots in recent weeks, with far-right elements in the country targeting mosques and locations that hold asylum seekers. These riots began after a tragic stabbing incident that caused the deaths of three young girls in Southport.
Social media was used to propagate misinformation about the tragedy, with rumours spreading that the killer had an Islamic connection or that he was an asylum seeker – UK police says neither of these rumours are true.
Musk decided to comment on video footage of the riots with the comment that “civil war is inevitable”. This comment was a reply to a post that said the riots were the effect of “mass migration and open borders”.
Since then, various officials have spoken out against Musk’s conduct on the platform, along with highlighting the responsibility social media sites such as X have in relation to tackling misinformation and harmful content.
The UK prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters earlier this week that “there is no justification” for comments such as the one Musk made. Meanwhile, UK minister of state at the Ministry of Justice Heidi Alexander said anyone with a platform on social media should “behave responsibly” with that platform.
Peter Kyle, the UK secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, spoke out against Musk in an interview with The Times and said he is “one person who is accountable to no one”. Kyle said Musk has the power to have “a profound impact” on the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Kyle also said he doesn’t underestimate “the impact that [Musk] can have, not just on public discourse, but on actual facts on the ground”.
Musk has not slowed down in sharing his political ideology on the social media platform. He has fully endorsed Donald Trump for the upcoming US presidential election and has been highly critical of presidential candidate Kamala Harris, even sharing a deepfake post of her in recent weeks. Yesterday (7 August), Musk said Harris is “quite literally a communist”.
A push against social media
In response to the riots, UK regulator Ofcom said it has been engaging with “various online services” to discuss the steps they are taking to stop their platforms from being used to “stir up hatred, provoke violence and commit other offences under UK law”.
This move follows the passing of the UK’s Online Safety Act last year, which had the main focus of protecting children from online harm by placing more responsibility on tech companies to prevent and remove illegal and harmful content.
Ofcom said its regulations that pre-date the Act include rules that state UK-based video-sharing platforms must protect their users from videos likely to incite violence or hatred. The Online Safety Act also sets out new responsibilities for online services around how they assess and mitigate the risks of illegal activity.
However, not all of the powers from this Act are in effect in the UK yet. Ofcom told CNBC it is moving quickly to implement the Act, but that the new rules won’t fully come into force until 2025.
There have been reports that X has failed to tackle offensive and deceptive content since Musk took over the platform. The EU has also raised questions over its content moderation.
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Elon Musk. Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
