fake news amplified on Musk's X has fuelled the riots
With Britain struggling to end the riots, Elon Musk seems to only be fuelling the hostility.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had warned social media platforms over online misinformation that sparked the riots.
But days later, Musk waded in by suggesting the riots were due to mass migration, adding that “civil war was inevitable”.
Evidence suggests that fake news shared on Musk’s X has fuelled the riots and he has faced little to no repercussions.
Even in the UK, which has passed one of the most ambitious laws to regulate toxic online behaviour, authorities are hamstrung to address dangerous lies that are spread across Telegram, TikTok or X.
In such tense times, some platforms still have not done enough to act against misinformation that spread following the stabbing of three girls in Southport.
The suspect was Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, who was born in the UK.
However, viral posts on X falsely claimed he was a Muslim “asylum seeker” named Ali Al-Shakati, who had come to the UK by boat in 2023.
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate told his X followers that the suspect was “an illegal migrant”.
Rioters went on to attack mosques and set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers.
There have also been calls for violence.
On August 5, 2024, a Telegram user posted a list of targets for rioters to attend.
Although Telegram removed the channel for breaking its rules, another channel with the same name shared the same post.
A spokesperson for the platform said:
“Each day, millions of pieces of dangerous content are removed before they can cause harm.”
Britain’s new Online Safety Law, which passed in 2023, had the potential to improve such systems.
It was designed to maintain free speech by giving large online platforms a “duty of care” for their users.
Rather than go after specific content or users, the law gave Ofcom the power to conduct risk assessments on Telegram or X to check misinformation was not spreading in a way that could cause harm.
However, the act does not fully come into force until early 2025.
And even if it was in force today, it would not address the specific lies that fuelled the current violence.
Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash said lies were being “spread quite deliberately” to increase tensions in different communities.
But under the new law, social media platforms did nothing wrong by letting those lies go viral, even when they could spark further violence.
The past Conservative government are to blame for this as they watered down the Online Safety Act just before it was passed.
They removed a section that banned “legal but harmful” content so that the rules would only apply to content that was already illegal under existing law.
For example, the calls to violence on Telegram would break the rules but Elon Musk’s “civil war” comment would not.
While the internet is filled with misinformation, it is not the cause of all social unrest.
Today, the world is in a state where minor things can have a widespread impact thanks to social media, especially on platforms that have gutted their trust and safety teams.
The thugs causing chaos on Britain’s streets do not care about the three girls who were killed.
They are exploiting a tragedy to act out on their pathologies.
And they are capitalising on the power that online platforms have in controlling the information flow.
A groundbreaking law that could have finally held those companies to account for dangerous misinformation lost much of its bite because of the short-sighted views of politicians.
Right now, Sir Keir should avoid feuding with Elon Musk.
Musk is retweeting videos and memes slamming the UK’s policing system and mocking the PM by using hashtags like #TwoTierKeir.
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