Downing Street has criticised comments by Elon Musk who posted on X that “civil war is inevitable” under a video of violent riots in Liverpool.
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said the violence came from a small minority of people who “do not speak for Britain” and said the prime minister did not share the sentiments of the billionaire, who has previously been criticised for allowing far-right figures back on to his social media platform.
“There’s no justification for comments like that,” the spokesperson said. “What we’ve seen in this country is organised, violent thuggery that has no place, either on our streets or online.
“We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain, and in response to it, we’ve seen some of the best of our communities coming out and cleaning up the mess [and] the disruption of those that don’t speak for our country, and we’ve seen the response for people that do speak for our country. I think you can tell from that that the prime minister does not share those sentiments.”
Starmer warned after a Cobra meeting with senior cabinet ministers, police chiefs and Ministry of Justice officials that the police would pursue those organising online incitement.
“If you’re inciting violence, it doesn’t matter whether it’s online or offline,” he said. “And therefore I expect, just as in relation to those that are directly participating on the streets, for there to be arrests and charging and prosecution.
“Equally, anyone who has been found to have committed a criminal offence online can expect the same response.”
No 10 said work was taking place to impress upon social media companies that they already had a duty to remove criminal content. “The government is working with social media platforms to ensure that they are removing content quickly [and] that their processes are in place, but there is more that they can and should be doing,” the spokesperson said.
“They have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their users and online spaces, to ensure that criminal activity is not being hosted on their platforms. They shouldn’t be waiting for the Online Safety Act for that. They already have responsibilities in place under the law … They have responsibilities that we will hold them to account for.”
The technology secretary, Peter Kyle, is expected to meet social media bosses in the coming days, the spokesperson said.
“We have seen some action over the last few days by social media companies to ensure that their automated processes are working, that there is rapid response to misleading criminal content online and that that is being suppressed or removed, but as I said, this doesn’t go far enough and this is subject to the conversations that the DSIT [Department for Science, Innovation and Technology] secretary continues to have.”
Musk was responding to a video posted on X by the Libs of TikTok account, originally posted by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who has been spreading videos of rioting that has targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.
The X owner criticised Starmer again on Monday night, responding to the prime minister’s statement on protecting Muslim communities and mosques.
Musk posted: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was banned from X in 2018, when it was known as Twitter, but his account was restored by Musk last year under his new ownership. Musk has since interacted with Robinson on the platform, posting exclamation marks under at least one of his posts about the violence.
Musk has amplified a number of accounts posting inflammatory content about the violence, by commenting or posting exclamation marks under the users’ posts.
Speaking to reporters after the Cobra meeting, Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist public duty officers was being introduced to ensure police could deal with the disorder where needed.
The government has said there are enough prison places to deal with those going through the court system after hundreds of arrests, despite warnings a fortnight ago that prisons capacity was nearing its limit. An extra 70 prosecutors were on duty over the weekend to charge criminals, and more than 60 remand courts were held across 50 locations on Saturday.
Starmer said the blame for squeezed capacity in prisons lay with the previous government and that he was “appalled” it was even a consideration, but added: “We will make this work and ensure that we have got the places that are needed to bring the perpetrators swiftly to justice.”
