Downing Street slapped down Elon Musk on Monday after he waded into the row over riots in Britain by posting on X that “civil war is inevitable”.
The Government also stressed that police and other authorities were working to bring to justice people who had inciting online the outbreaks of violence in some towns and cities.
Responding to a post on the social media site, formerly Twitter, that blamed mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, Musk wrote: "Civil war is inevitable."
But No10 flatly rejected the intervention by the social media boss.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “There is no justification for comments like that.
“What we have seen in this country is organised, violent thuggery that has no place either on our streets or online.
“As the Home Secretary said..,we are talking about a minority thugs who do not speak for Britain.
“In response to it we have seen some of the best of our communities coming out and cleaning up the mess.”
Civil war is inevitable
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2024
Social media giant X, its content and some of its users have come under increased scrutiny since being taken over by Musk in late 2022.
Earlier, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that social media had acted as a “rocket booster” for the organisation of riots in Britain.
The Cabinet minister said social media companies had to “take some responsibility” after the violent protests in the UK.
She vowed that “very swift justice” would be delivered to the thugs who went on the rampage in a string of towns and cities and that they would “pay the price” for their actions.
But Ms Cooper also told BBC Breakfast: “There are also issues around social media and social media acted as really a rocket booster behind both the spread of misinformation and also the organisation of this violence.
“Social media companies need to take some responsibility.
“We also need to make sure that criminal activity online is being pursued.”
A leading expert on Right-wing extremism has called for tougher laws on social media after the “tsunami of lies” on it which fanned the flames of protest across the UK.
Professor Matthew Feldman said that within 30 hours of fake news emerging online about the suspect in the Southport stabbings, it had spread across multiple platforms, and sparked protests that led to dozens of police officers being injured.
The academic stressed: “Tougher laws are needed. There has been much debate about the long delayed Online Harms Bill.
“It is difficult to think of a much better example of online harms breaching the real world than a fake story demonising Muslims and people of colour and leading to riots on the streets.”
He added: “This is only the latest wake-up call to a problem that we know exists and continues to get worse. I don’t doubt the social media companies would prefer this not to be on their platform but I strongly feel they are not doing enough.”
The Times has reported that a woman accused of being one of the first to post a false Muslim name for the Southport suspect is a company managing director, mother-of-three, aged in her mid-fifties, who lives in a £1.5 million farmhouse in the rural north.
She allegedly posted on Twitter/X that “Ali Al-Shakati” was the suspect, he was an “asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year” and was on an “MI6 watch list, ” adding: “If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.”.
The woman denied she was the first person to put the wrong name out on social media, and said she had copied it from a fellow Covid lockdown sceptic.
She reportedly told The Times: “Yes I did [post it] … It was a spur of the moment ridiculous thing to do, which has literally destroyed me. It was just a mistake. I did a really stupid stupid thing, I copied and pasted it from what I saw, and I added the line ‘if this is true’.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned social media companies after misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old Southport suspect, Axel Rudakubana, including false claims that he was an asylum seeker from Syria who had crossed the Channel in a “small boat”.
The Prime Minister said the Government would uphold the law everywhere, including online, where far-right groups have been accused of inciting violence and stirring division in the wake of the Southport tragedy.
Speaking directly to social media firms during a press conference in Downing Street, Sir Keir said: “Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.
“That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.”
