Elon Musk has escalated his dispute with the UK by calling the Prime Minister “two-tier Keir” and questioning whether the country is resembling the Soviet Union after a man was reportedly arrested over comments made on Facebook. The billionaire founder of X has been engaging in a war of words with Sir Keir Starmer over the riots that have been happening in the UK, with concerns that misinformation online is contributing to the unrest.
In his recent criticism, Musk shared a video that allegedly showed police officers arresting a man for making offensive remarks on Facebook. Musk expressed shock at the incident, questioning whether such actions were more in line with the Soviet Union than Britain. Community Notes, X’s fact-checking resource, was tagged in Musk’s post for verification purposes.
The video displayed an officer informing a man that he was being arrested on suspicion of misusing the electronic communications network. This offense includes sending messages that are deemed “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing nature,” which can result in a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a fine.
In another social media post directed at Sir Keir, Musk inquired why all communities in Britain were not being equally protected. This comment was in response to a video depicting large crowds of masked individuals outside a pub, some of whom were waving the Palestine flag. Musk had previously made similar comments towards the Prime Minister after Sir Keir expressed zero tolerance for attacks on Muslim communities.
There have been reports of mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers being targeted in the recent wave of unrest across the UK. Musk also used the hashtag #twotierKeir in one of his posts, alluding to the concept of “two-tier policing” often invoked by the far-right to suggest biased treatment by law enforcement. However, senior politicians like Sir Keir and Dame Priti Patel have refuted these claims, with Britain’s former head of counter-terrorism, Neil Basu, denouncing such rhetoric as dangerous.
The dispute between Musk and the UK government originated from his assertion that “civil war is inevitable” in the country, a statement that was swiftly condemned by officials. Justice Minister Heidi Alexander stressed the need for calm and criticized the language used by Musk as unjustified.
The riots initially broke out in Southport following the tragic stabbing of three girls in the Merseyside town and have since spread to various locations. The ongoing conflict with Musk poses a challenge to the government’s efforts to hold social media platforms accountable for removing harmful content that may be inciting violence.
Misinformation circulating online linked the individual arrested for the Southport attacks to being a Muslim refugee who arrived in the UK recently via a small boat. However, the teenager detained and charged by authorities, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents before relocating to a village near Southport.
Sir Keir has emphasized that anyone instigating violence, whether online or offline, will be met with legal consequences. Mr. Basu has advocated for the severe far-right violence to be treated as terrorism, labeling Musk’s remarks as inappropriate.
