Why is Elon Musk clashing with the UK government over far-right riots?

Elon Musk has clashed with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on X, accusing the British leader of discriminatory “two-tiered” policing as authorities scramble to clamp down on violent far-right riots against Muslims and immigrants that have rocked the country for a week.

The posts came after 10 Downing Street on Monday criticised earlier comments by the billionaire and technology entrepreneur on his X platform, saying that Musk “does not speak for Britain”.

Musk, who also owns rocket company SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla, has since doubled down, picking on the prime minister while appearing to voice support for the protesting far-right groups.

Hundreds of rioters have been arrested in the wake of violence that first started in the northern English town of Southport and has spread across England and Northern Ireland. Scores of police officers have been wounded in the violence.

Here’s a breakdown of the row between Musk and the UK government:

What started the online spat?

On Sunday, Musk tweeted that “civil war is inevitable,” in the UK, in response to a post claiming that “open borders and migration” had led to the protests.

The anti-migration narrative that is being spread on social channels is being blamed for causing the disorder in the first place, after misinformation spread online that a 17-year-old suspect who killed three girls in a mass stabbing in Southport was a Muslim immigrant. That claim has since been debunked, as the suspect is confirmed to have been born in the UK.

The UK government condemned the post on Monday.

“There’s no justification for comments like that,” a spokesperson for Starmer told reporters. “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 … I think you can tell from that that the prime minister does not share those sentiments.”

A protester shouts in front of police officers during an ‘Enough is Enough’ demonstration called by far-right activists in Weymouth, on the southwest coast of England where the Bibby Stockholm migrant accommodation barge is moored, on August 4, 2024 [File: Justin Tallis/AFP]

How has the row escalated?

However, Musk only appears to be doubling down on his criticism of the UK government since 10 Downing Street’s rebuke.

The billionaire has since Monday retweeted or commented under posts attacking UK authorities for arresting and charging suspects arrested for taking part in the riots.

In one response to a post that claimed that an “armed Muslim” patrol group had attacked civilians and a news network crew, Musk directly tweeted at Prime Minister Starmer, asking: “Why aren’t all communities protected?”

Musk has also tweeted in support of those attacking officials for arresting people believed to have posted offensive comments online, espousing a “free speech absolutist” stance he has long pushed. He posted a meme of a cartoon character strapped to an electrocution chair and likened the scene to the punishment people would face for posting their views online in the UK by 2030.

“Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?” he asked in yet another tweet.

“Musk and others would claim … the right of free speech and for people to say what they want, but there is a very thin line here,” Lee McGowan, a professor studying far-right groups at Belfast’s Queen’s University, told Al Jazeera.

“These influencers are channelling hate. In Belfast, we have seen some shops attacked even where the owners – who are paying taxes and contributing to society – and are legally entitled to be here, have had their premises attacked and burnt out.”

Musk further tweeted the hashtag #TwoTierKeir, referencing controversial theories being spread that claim authorities are cracking down more severely on the protesting groups than on minorities.

London Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News on Wednesday that the claim was “complete nonsense”.

“We have commentators from either end of the political spectrum who like to throw accusations of bias at the police because we stand in the middle, we operate independently under the law without fear or favour…The serious voices who echo those are of more concern to me because the risk is … they legitimise the violence that the officers I’m sending (out) today, will face on the streets … they are putting them at risk.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called the far-right violence as ‘thuggery’ [Henry Nicholls/Pool/AP Photo]

UK authorities have not responded directly to Musk’s provocative comments since Monday. UK newspaper The Guardian reports that parliament members of the ruling Labour Party were privately warned not to engage Musk.

It is “important that you do not do anything that risks amplifying misinformation on social media and do not get drawn into debates online,” Chief Whip Alan Campbell is quoted as saying in a letter to Labour MPs.

How is the online battle shaping the riots?

It’s not easy to draw a direct cause-and-effect association between Musk’s inciting tweets on the riots, and the intensity of the violence, however, on his platform X, many of Musk’s posts have received thousands of likes and reposts, hinting at how widely they’ve travelled.

It’s the exact scenario that UK authorities fear after Starmer blamed disinformation on social media for the riots. Indeed, figures like the influencer Andrew Tate stirred up the anti-immigrant rhetoric that contributed to the violence. In a video on X, Tate had said the 17-year-old suspect who attacked the girls in Southport was an “undocumented migrant” who had “arrived on a boat”.

According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a surge in online activity regarding misinformation surrounding the stabbing suspect helped far-right networks mobilise offline and enabled them to organise protests outside a local mosque in Southport. Authorities say the far-right English Defence League organised the protests.

Some of the present agitations have roots that go back as far as Brexit, McGowan said, noting that many of the communities experiencing violence are also the poorer ones where people voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, believing it would solve economic declines.

“There are real issues here over jobs, houses and the future. Brexit was supposed to bring a new dawn. So anti-immigrant views became more pronounced and immigrants were portrayed by far-right groups as a problem. They paint a picture of new arrivals taking houses, jobs, getting preferential treatment to education and social security,” he said.

The previous Tory government’s anti-immigrant and anti-Islam rhetoric during its 14-year tenure also played a role in far-right violence. Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak unsuccessfully devised a plan to deport immigrants to Rwanda.

Starmer promised to crack down hard on the protesters and posters. Close to 400 people have been arrested so far, with some reportedly charged with posting inciteful comments online.

On Tuesday, a 28-year-old man in the city of Leeds appeared in court on allegations of using “threatening words or behaviour intending to stir up racial hatred” in alleged Facebook posts, becoming the first to be charged with such.

The man, named as Jordan Parlour by UK media, is the first to be charged for online posts related to the riots. Parlour pleaded guilty to the charges and will be sentenced on Friday.

Does Musk support other far-right groups?

Musk has similarly tweeted in support of right-wing narratives in the United States, for example, against immigration.

Following Republican Candidate Donald Trump’s attempted assassination in July, Musk publicly endorsed Trump, who is staunchly anti-immigration, and champions policies such as anti-abortion rights.

Police officers detain a person during an anti-immigration protest in Blackpool [Getty Images]

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk tweeted.

Musk also announced he would be donating to Trump’s re-election bid. In the past, Musk had donated to both Democrats and Republicans, including to former President Barack Obama in 2011.

On Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social social media platform that he had agreed to be interviewed by Musk but did not provide more details.

German chemist Rossman, one of Europe’s largest pharmacy chains, on Tuesday announced it would no longer patronise Tesla, citing Musk’s relations with Trump, who has in the past spoken out against climate change and electric vehicles.

Under Musk’s leadership, X, formerly Twitter, has also reinstated the suspended accounts of several controversial figures, including the UK’s Tommy Robinson, an anti-Islam activist, the influencer Tate and Trump. Robinson has been accused of stoking the far-right riots in the UK.

What next?

Authorities deployed thousands of police officers across the UK on Wednesday ahead of planned far-right protests that failed to materialise. Thousands of people marched against racism across the UK in response to the targeting of people of colour, especially Muslims, over the past week.

Meanwhile, online agitations around the protests continue. Some analysts have speculated that the UK government could restrict access to some social channels like Musk’s X.

But that could be problematic, McGowan of Queen’s University said.

“Influencers and leading figures could be de-platformed,” he said, but that could bring up questions of whether people are being silenced by the authorities. “(It) feeds into conspiracy theories which are very much alive and well.”

Besides, it has not always worked in the past, as is seen in the United States, in the case of Trump, for example.

“Often pushed people onto (other) sites … tend to post more often and even more extreme comments. The way for the government to proceed is to take on the media companies and start to really make these companies responsible for what appears on their sites. The government needs to have more honest discussions about immigration and its advantages, morals, and how it is seeking to deal with illegal migration,” McGowan added.

Officials are mulling trying some of the suspects on “terrorism” charges.

“…We’ll throw the full force of the law at offenders, whether that’s charging people with assaults, violent disorder, riot and if terrorism offences are appropriate,” Police Commissioner Rowley told Sky News.

“If you are a keyboard warrior, you’re not safe from the law if you incite violence,” he said.