Elon Musk and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have clashed over claims of an imminent ‘civil war’ in Britain, following a series of violent incidents in Southport. These events have been exacerbated by far-right activists exploiting the situation to incite further unrest.
This follows the unrest triggered by the murder of three girls in Southport, which far-right activists have exploited to incite violence against immigration centres. Musk, the owner of social media platform X, responded to allegations that mass migration was causing riots by asserting that ‘civil war is inevitable.’ He amplified a post by far-right leader Tommy Robinson, who claimed that ‘Muslims run through the streets unchallenged by police, attacking any non-Muslim.’ Additionally, Musk reacted to another post accusing the government of ‘prioritising mosques over British girls in their dance classes’ with an exclamation mark.
Government ministers have expressed concern over social media companies, including X, failing to swiftly address misinformation following the Southport attacks, where three girls were killed during a dance class. The defendant, charged with the murders, is a second-generation immigrant born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents. Incorrect posts on X falsely labelled him as an ‘asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year’ and claimed he was on an ‘MI6 watch list.’ These false claims were amplified by right-wing influencer Andrew Tate, who has nine million followers on X, and are believed to have stoked much of the violence seen across Britain.
In response, Starmer criticised Musk’s comments, stating that there was ‘no justification’ for his remarks. Starmer had previously declared that the government would ‘not tolerate attacks on Muslim communities,’ which Musk countered by arguing that the Prime Minister should be concerned about attacks on ‘all communities’ and accused the police of a ‘one-sided’ approach to the disturbances. Starmer’s spokesman dismissed Musk’s claims, and the Prime Minister later addressed allegations of two-tier policing—where white, far-right protesters are purportedly treated more harshly than other groups—calling it a ‘non-issue.’ This came after Nigel Farage claimed such practices had become ‘widespread’ in British policing.
The escalating tensions between Musk and Starmer highlight the broader debate over social media’s role in spreading misinformation and the challenges in addressing extremist views that exploit tragic events for political gain.
