Alameen Templeton
A UK government minister has slammed Pretoria-born bad boy and American tech billionaire Elon Musk for saying “civil war is inevitable” in Britain after a crackdown on anti-Muslim, far-right riots gripping England and Northern Ireland.
The riots, suspected to be led by anti-immigrant groups, spread across England after a British-born Christian with Somali parents stabbed to death three children at a dance class in Southport last week.
British media say police have arrested about 400 people so far, and correctional authorities have booked nearly 600 prison berths to hold those arrested amid the violence.
The riots were fuelled by disinformation claiming the stabbing suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker. He is 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a Christian born in Britain.
Scores more riots are being planned for Wednesday, with police and rightwingers predicting it’s going to “be a big day”.
The rioters have targeted masajid and hotels housing asylum seekers, forcing the government to provide emergency security to Muslims going to salaah.
Musk, the owner of X, drew criticism for writing on the site on Sunday that a British “civil war” was inevitable. He was replying to another X user blaming the riots on “the effects of mass migration and open borders”.
“Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable,” Justice Minister Heidi Alexander said Tuesday, describing Musk’s comments as “deeply irresponsible”.
“We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly,” she said in a radio interview.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Monday “no justification” could excuse Musk’s comment.
Unbowed, Musk sparked further ire Monday with a provocative reply to a Starmer tweet.
Starmer vowed in an X tweet to apply “criminal law online as well as offline”, adding that “we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities”.
Musk shot back: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on all communities?”
Far-right, anti-Islam figurehead Tommy Robinson is among people promoting false claims about Rudakubana on X.
Starmer’s office also blamed “bot activity online”, suggesting false rumours are been “amplified with the involvement of state actors”.
EuropeInvasion, an anti-immigrant X account with hundreds of thousands of followers, still has a post up saying Rudakubana was “confirmed to be Muslim”.
An AI-generated image depicting Muslim men chasing a child wearing a British flag has garnered over 900,000 views.
Technology Minister Peter Kyle met executives from TikTok, Meta, Google and X Monday and warned social media users spreading misinformation will have “nowhere to hide”.
Musk has reduced content moderation on X since taking over Twitter, instead relying on user-written “community notes”.
He also regularly voices support for right-wing causes and politicians like Donald Trump and Argentina’s Javier Milei.
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